Whirlpool Will Transition All U.S. Fridge Manufacturing to New Blowing Agent Starting in 2013 Aug 22, 2012

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Whirlpool Corp. said all its U.S.-made refrigerators will begin incorporating Honeywell's Solstice Liquid Blowing Agent (LBA) for refrigerator insulation. This includes future product lineups from brands Whirlpool, Maytag, Amana, Jenn-Air, and KitchenAid.

Whirlpool called it the most environmentally responsible blowing agent available, with the lowest Global Warming Potential (GWP) available among non-ozone depleting substitutes. The liquid halogenated olefin material is engineered to outperform commonly used hydrocarbons like C-Pentane to provide better low-temperature insulation performance and higher energy savings.

Whirlpool is the first refrigerator manufacturer in the U.S. who has committed to using the new class of blowing agents in its refrigerators.

The Honeywell LBA offers an 8-10% improvement in efficiency over refrigerator platforms tested with hydrocarbon blown foam insulation, and a 2% improvement over HFC-245fa, currently the most-used foam blowing agent in the U.S.

Solstice was recently granted approval under the Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) and has a 100-year global warming potential between 4.7 and 7, for a 99% improvement over 245fa. It is considered to be a near drop-in replacement and is intended to offer cost benefits and, being non-flammable, to provide safety advantages over other hydrocarbon blowing agents.

Whirlpool will begin production with the new LBA in late 2013.

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