Air energy water heater: a mixed bag

Time: 2010-03-18 09:24 Source: "China Quality Journey" Author: Chen Aijun

There is a fourth Air-source water heaters, known as modern water heaters, have become the new favorite in the market because their energy-saving and environmental protection effects exceed those of solar water heaters. A large number of companies have entered this market to seek gold. But along with the rapid expansion of the market comes a mixed bag of mud and sand.

Core tip: Air-energy water heaters, known as the "fourth generation" water heaters, have become the new favorite of the market because their energy-saving and environmental protection effects exceed those of solar water heaters. A large number of companies have entered this market to "gold dig". But along with the rapid expansion of the market comes a mixed bag of mud and sand. Unlicensed production, "sticking to foreign famous brands", false propaganda, technical shortcomings, lack of after-sales service, inflated prices... various problems have surfaced. The air-energy water heater market is facing a severe test.

China Quality Journey Magazine

Text/Pictures Huang Yongsheng, Zhang Songqiao, Staff Reporter Chen Aijun

On January 6, the Inspection Branch of the Quality Supervision Bureau of Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province He suddenly shook his fist and conducted a two-day special rectification and law enforcement inspection on the air source water heater manufacturer. "Incomplete certification, counterfeiting, false propaganda, etc., have seriously disrupted the air-energy water heater market. It will be impossible without governance!" said a law enforcement captain.

On the 15th day after the Copenhagen Conference and the 6th day of the New Year, the first clean and tidy quality "crackdown" - this undoubtedly caused quite a shock in Jiangmen City, where there are many air-energy water heater manufacturers. . This symbolic crackdown is also regarded by many industry insiders as one of the important indicators for observing the market in the New Year. "The rectification movement in the air-energy water heater market has begun." Similar statements began to quietly circulate in the industry.

Air energy water heaters, also known as air source heat pump water heaters, are the latest generation of high-end water heater products after boilers, electric heat, gas and solar energy. They are known as the "fourth generation" water heaters because their energy saving and environmental protection effects exceed those of solar energy. . Its energy consumption is only 1/4 of traditional electric water heaters, 1/3 of gas water heaters, and 2/3 of solar water heaters. And because there is no electric heating element in contact with water in its structure, it achieves complete separation of water and electricity, which is different from traditional water heaters. Electric water heaters are safer and more reliable.

In developed countries, the air-energy water heater market is quite mature, with a usage ratio of up to 70%. In China, air-source water heaters have gradually emerged since 2000 and have grown rapidly.

Market statistics show that in 2002, the total annual sales of air-energy water heaters was less than 10 million yuan, while in 2009, its annual sales exceeded 1.5 billion yuan. Although this is less than 1% of the entire water heater market share, experts predict that the market size will exceed 10 billion yuan within 5 years.

Some people commented that just like the development speed when the Internet was connected in previous years, the sales growth rate of the entire air-energy water heater industry will grow on a geometric basis, and the market space is very huge.

The huge market space brings about a situation where everyone is chasing profits. It was not until September 1, 2009 that the national standard for air-energy water heaters was officially implemented. "The previous vacuum standard determined that the air-energy water heater market must experience a strong pain from chaos to chaos. The air-energy water heater market is facing a crisis. A severe test," a senior observer analyzed.

Philpson Advertisement: "Save 80".

The organizational structure of "Phelpson USA".

Law enforcement officers at the scene of law enforcement in Fidas.

The "space energy water heater" promoted by Huizhou Shuanghe.

Unlicensed products are sealed according to law.

The secret battle for the foreign name of "Phelpson"

On January 7, law enforcement officers from the Jiangmen Municipal Quality Supervision Bureau entered Jiangmen Fidas New Energy Co., Ltd. for a surprise inspection. The reporter found at the law enforcement site that the Fidas production line was very crude. The production site was all operated manually. There was no dedicated laboratory and inspection equipment, and it was currently unable to meet the requirements of the national compulsory product 3C certification.

Suspected of unlicensed production and fraudulent use of certification marks, law enforcement officers immediately transferred all production and sales records of Fidas Company, seized the production line on site, and sealed all products on site. In another factory that claims to be "China's largest and most professional heat pump water heater production base" - Philpson (Jiangmen) New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., only one of the dozens of different models of products with certification marks has been processed. A 3C certificate covers only three products.

Industry insiders revealed that due to the low entry barriers to the heat pump market, even a husband-and-wife team in the air-conditioning maintenance department is retrofitting air-energy water heaters. "The cost of 3C certification for one model of air-energy water heaters is as high as 25,000-30,000 yuan. Faced with the endless changes in model specifications in the market, these small businesses simply cannot afford the high cost of certification one by one." Industry insiders revealed to reporters, " A situation like Philpson's that only requires one certificate to deal with regulatory authorities and consumers is just a microcosm of the national air-energy water heater market. "

According to statistics, the current air-energy heat pump water heater industry is in full swing. There are about 500 companies, mainly concentrated in the surrounding areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang and Guangdong. Among them, there are more than 200 in Jiangsu and Zhejiang and more than 300 in Guangdong. There are only a few dozen companies with independent brands such as Midea, Gree, and Tongyi. Most of the others are miscellaneous brands and have no independent production capabilities. They all adopt the "use-it-yourself" approach and DIY (do-it-yourself assembly) at will.

Because product quality cannot be guaranteed and there is even no after-sales service, many manufacturers cannot find customers after selling a batch of products. "They will change brands." People in the circle laughed at themselves, "A number of companies will be closed down in one winter."

China Quality Miles reporter learned during the investigation that the most important component of air-energy water heaters is the compressor, but now nationwide Few domestic companies can break through technological bottlenecks. High-end core technologies are basically mastered by foreign companies. Local companies are at the low end of the international industrial value chain. At present, the compressors used by most small and medium-sized enterprises in Guangdong are mainly derived from improved products of air-conditioning compressors, and more than 90% of them are heat pump hot water products with an air-conditioning concept.

As a result, driven by interests, some companies put on foreign names such as "American brands", "Japanese technology", and "Made in Germany".

The website of Philpson (Jiangmen) New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. declares: Since the establishment of the factory more than four years ago, Philpson has continuously expanded its sales network, improved and improved its after-sales service work, and has established a presence throughout China. Established branches, offices, and specialty chain stores, and established Philpson companies in Chile, Australia, the United Kingdom, Malaysia and other countries and regions; it has national, international and Hong Kong safety certifications...Philpson's global product output ratio: Americas 45, Europe 30, Asia 25...

The promotional website of Feidas Electrical Appliances (Jiangmen) Co., Ltd. also claims: PHELPSON Phelpson Electrical Appliances (Zhongshan) Co., Ltd., owned by Feidas Electrical Appliances (Zhongshan) Co., Ltd. It is invested and constructed by the American Phelpson International (Holdings) Co., Ltd. of the S.H. Group. It owns many well-known registered trademarks such as PHELPSON and PHELPSON. It is a company specializing in R&D and production of high-tech energy-saving and environmentally friendly products and household appliances. A manufacturing enterprise focusing on electrical appliances, its main self-developed and produced products include household and commercial air-energy central water heaters, air-energy central air-conditioning and hot water dual-purpose units, LED and other high-tech energy-saving product series...

What is difficult for the outside world to understand is that the foreign name "Phelpson" has become popular just because it is full of foreign flavor. Philpson (Jiangmen) New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. used "Philpson" as its factory name, while Jiangmen Fidas New Energy Co., Ltd. registered the "Philpson" trademark first. Even for this foreign name, the two companies once launched a "secret war."

A query on the China Trademark Network shows that the "PHELPSON" trademark application date is December 30, 2004, the registration number is 4441740, the owner is Li Dairong, and the exclusive period is from April 7, 2009 to April 6, 2019 ; In April 2006, Jiangmen PHELPSON New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. also applied for the "PHELPSON" trademark, which was rejected by the National Trademark Office.

China Quality Miles reporter has confirmed through various investigations that whether it is "Philpson (Hong Kong) International Co., Ltd." under the name of Philpson (Jiangmen) New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., or Fidas' "American Philpson International (Holdings) Co., Ltd." are all shell companies registered in Hong Kong.

According to industry insiders, registering a company in Hong Kong can be completed with a few thousand yuan through an agency agency. The lessons learned from "Oudian Flooring" have not stopped the phenomenon of companies pursuing profits and favoring foreign famous brands.

One-time electrician takes a hot spring bath at home?

“You can soak in a hot spring at home with one-time electricity” is an attractive advertisement put out by Guangdong Midea Commercial Air Conditioning Equipment Co., Ltd.

According to Midea's official website: Midea's energy-saving and comfortable "hot spring" series of air-energy water heaters absorb a large amount of free heat from the air outside the room by consuming very little electrical energy, and convert the heat energy of the outside air into Centralized delivery to cold water allows the cold water to heat up quickly and meet household bathroom requirements, changing the traditional gas and electric heating methods. The generation of heat energy comes entirely from the heat existing in the air, truly achieving the goal of being an energy-saving pioneer.

However, during the investigation, the reporter found that a 450-watt all-in-one product from Midea was equipped with two electric heating rods.

Lai Huisheng, chief engineer of Jiangmen Kailixin Technology Co., Ltd., told reporters that the products currently on the market cannot all be distinguished by authenticity. It can only be distinguished by which heating method is the main one. One is a simple air-energy heat pump, now called an air-energy water heater. One is a product that uses air energy as the main component and electric heating as the supplement, which can be called an electric-assisted heating air-energy water heater; the other is a product that uses air energy as the supplement and electric heating as the main component, which can be called an air-energy-assisted electric water heater. Pure air-energy water heaters can achieve real energy-saving effects, while those products with electric auxiliary heating have less energy-saving effects.

Currently, most of the products on the market in Guangdong, Fujian, and Guangxi belong to the first category; in the markets of East and Central China, most of the products are of the second category, and their design concepts are mainly to cope with low temperature weather and Targeting the northern market in low temperature areas.

However, some products currently on the market, in order to reduce size and cost, use small-power compressors, small-area heat exchangers, and high-power electric auxiliary heating devices. In this way, energy saving It's a big discount. This is the case with the so-called "all-in-one machines" currently on the market.

There are even manufacturers that have "created" a new concept of "space energy water heaters". Huizhou Shuanghe New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. has this description in its promotion: "Space energy water heaters can operate when the sun is shining." , make full use of solar energy to heat hot water. When there is no sun, the air source heat pump works and absorbs the thermal energy in the air to heat hot water, thereby providing users with domestic hot water 24 hours a day... Space energy water heater, national patent, unique. "

"Space energy water heaters are a deformed concept fabricated by merchants out of wishful thinking, deliberately fooling consumers!" A relevant person from the Inspection Bureau of the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision told reporters.

More energy-saving or more environmentally friendly?

The biggest advantage of air source water heaters is energy saving and environmental protection. Kang Yanbing, director of the Energy Conservation Information Dissemination Center of the National Development and Reform Commission, once said that as long as 10% of the country's electric water heaters are replaced by air-energy water heaters, 3.3 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity can be saved a year, which is equivalent to about 1.29 million tons of standard coal.

“Energy saving is obvious, but we dare not say that all products are environmentally friendly!” Industry insiders revealed, “Like all air-conditioning products, air-energy water heaters and heat pumps are Most of the refrigerant (refrigerant) used in compressors is Freon R22, and currently most air conditioning products have switched to new refrigerants R410A, R134A, R407C, R404, R502 and other alternatives." It is reported that R410A is currently internationally recognized as the most suitable refrigerant to replace R22. It does not damage the ozone layer and has become popular in Europe, the United States, Japan and other countries.

China Quality Journey reporter’s investigation found that many large companies on the market have adopted new refrigerants - especially export products, but many small companies still use the sign of filling Freon R22. "Although national policy has explicitly prohibited the use of Freon R22, there is still a process for the market to completely replace it. R410A refrigerant is 80 yuan more expensive per kilogram than Freon R22, and it is not easy to buy on the market. And because R410A refrigerant storage The transportation requirements are very high, resulting in poor market promotion, inconvenient maintenance, and higher maintenance costs. Many companies continue to use R22 from the perspective of cost savings." Industry insiders analyzed.

However, in the fierce market competition, the reporter learned that many powerful companies have begun to consciously play the technology card and the "environmental protection" card, and develop water circulation heating systems.

“We reject the fluorine cycle!” has become the loudest advertisement in the air-energy water heater heat pump market. Merchants including Gree and Midea have launched water circulation heating products.

“But whether to use fluorine cycle or water cycle is actually a question of whether the choice is more energy-saving or more environmentally friendly! The prices of the two products are almost the same. The cost of water cycle heating is still lower due to the addition of an extra water pump and inner pipe. It is slightly higher and consumes more power because there is an extra hundreds of watts of water pump working at the same time. So you can only choose one between the two." Technical experts told reporters.

After-sales service has become a weakness

On January 5, a reporter from China Quality Journey came to Jiangmen Maternal and Child Health Hospital for an interview. Unfortunately, there was a power outage. "After the power outage, the heat pump unit was unable to work, and the hot water supply in the hospital was cut off." Li Jianwen, chief of the general affairs department, was very annoyed by this matter. "We are using Jiangmen Philpson's air-energy water heater, which has been installed for a year. More, the overall operation is normal, but the hot water supply is unstable when the weather changes." The reporter's investigation at many universities in Guangzhou showed that this is not an isolated case. "After-sales service has always been the weak point of air-source water heaters." Director Tan of the Logistics Department of South China Agricultural University said that although the school's heat pump system is well configured, its stability is average, and cooling has a greater impact on the equipment. For the damaged machines, the school has contacted the manufacturers for repairs, but most of the manufacturers are not in Guangzhou, so the repairs take a long time, affecting the normal supply of hot water.

In Jiangmen Ruirong Pump Industry Co., Ltd., Mr. Tan from the Logistics Department told reporters that the company installed an air-energy water heater produced by Foshan Shunde District Bili Drinking Water Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in 2006. The main engine is 9.2 horsepower. , the water tank capacity is 8 tons, which can be used by more than 100 employees, and the total cost was more than 80,000 yuan. But there was a problem with the heat pump unit some time ago. When I went to the manufacturer for repairs, I discovered that "Bili Company does not have fixed after-sales service personnel. If there is a problem, the people who come to deal with it are like casual workers." Mr. Tan told Reporter, "Accessories must be replaced! There is a problem with the replacement of old and new products. If we have to replace a new machine because there are no accessories, it will cost tens of thousands of yuan. Isn't it a big loss?"

The Bili manufacturer said that this control system product manufacturer no longer produces, the control box is also an old version, and there are no parts to replace it. If you want to upgrade to a new version, it will cost more than 1,000 yuan, and changing the host will cost 50,000 to 60,000 yuan.

The reporter learned at the Guangzhou Branch of the China Quality Certification Center that the compulsory certification certificate for heat pump water heater products of Bili Drinking Water Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd. was rejected because the manufacturer failed to accept supervision and inspection within the specified period. pause. The reporter's investigation found that the company mainly produces drinking water equipment, and the heat pump water heater is an OEM assembly product.

No chance of "home appliances going to the countryside"

It is understood that the "European Agreement on Climate Change" issued in November 2008 recognized air source heat pump technology as a renewable energy source. Air-source water heaters are widely used in developed countries such as Japan and Australia. However, the one-time investment of air-energy water heaters is slightly higher than that of traditional gas and electric water heaters, and the cheapest one costs more than 4,000 yuan, which restricts its popularity. Industry insiders believe that only the joint promotion of enterprises and governments can solve this problem.

“Due to the excellent energy-saving effect of air-source water heaters, Japan and European and American countries have policy subsidies of 25% of the purchase price.” It is reported that Japan is vigorously promoting the popularization of heat pump water heaters in households. In the "Household" plan, the household penetration rate of heat pump water heaters in 2007 was increased from 10% to more than 80%; in Australia, electric water heaters are being forced to be phased out.

Ma Dejun, vice president of the China Household Appliances Research Institute and secretary-general of the National Household Appliances Standardization Technical Committee Secretariat, once predicted that the country will also issue implementation details to regulate air-energy water heaters listed in the energy-saving and emission-reduction product catalog. and other products, financial assistance may be given.

However, reporters from China Quality Miles reviewed the catalog of products going to the countryside published on December 31, 2009 by the Ministry of Commerce's Home Appliances Going to the Rural Areas website and found that the most "energy-saving and environmentally friendly" air-energy water heater ultimately missed the "Home Appliances Going to the Rural Areas" program. .

“The inflated price is the main reason. Based on the average price of 4,000 yuan/unit, even if the national financial subsidy13 is provided, farmers will have a hard time buying it.” A senior person in the industry revealed, “This is why even though The total annual sales of air-energy water heaters exceeds 1.5 billion yuan, but it is less than 1% of the entire water heater market share.”

This person believes that the reasons for this embarrassing situation are that many manufacturers have Air-source heat pump water heaters are regarded as the last piece of cake in the home appliance industry, and huge profits are made when the products are priced out of the factory. Secondly, sales costs and sales profits are too high, and the entire production and sales chain is doubled and increased, resulting in a serious imbalance in the ratio of manufacturing costs and terminal selling prices. Even deformed.