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VRV or VRF ?

What’s the difference between

VRV and VRF?
Many people who ask this question, mistakenly
interpret it as 2 different HVAC technologies.
Actually, those are two different terms for the
same type of HVAC technology. Based on
Inverter technology compressors, the first VRV
HVAC systems were invented by Daikin during
the early 1980’s. As a technology leader in the
HVAC industry, Daikin had registered the VRV
term (which stands for Variable Refrigerant
Volume1) as an official trademark. All other
companies use VRF (Variable Refrigerant Flow2)
for their similar HVAC systems. Eventually, VRF
is the more common term for these types of
systems, and this is the term that will be used
for the rest of the article.

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So what is VRF?
It can easily be related to as the “Rolls Royce” of
Air Conditioning Systems. It’s a very
sophisticated technological air conditioning
system, based on several principles:

1. Refrigerant only – where refrigerant is the

only coolant material in the system (in
contrary to the chilled water systems,
where refrigerant is used for
cooling/heating the water that is circulated
throughout the whole system).
2. Inverter compressors that allow lowering
power consumption with partial
cooling/heating loads.
3. Several air handlers (indoor units) on the
same refrigerant loop / circuit.
4. Ability of modular expansion (especially
applicable for large projects, that can grow
in stages).

Typical VRF system structure

A typical system consists of an outdoor unit
(comprising one or multiple compressors),
several indoor units (often and mistakenly called
“fan coils”), refrigerant piping, running from the
outdoor to all indoors, using Refnet Joints
(copper distributors in pipes) and
communication wiring.

Communication wiring consists of a 2 wired

cable, chained from the outdoor to all indoors,
creating an internal closed loop network, that is
an essential part of any VRF installation.

As for the Control, each indoor is controlled by

its own wired control panel, while there are
some possibilities for wireless remotes (IR) and
centralized controllers, enabling controlling all
indoors from one location.

How does VRF HVAC work?

The operation logic of the VRF is fully built-in
inside the system and is proprietary for each
VRF manufacturer. The system gets inputs from
the user (e.g. desired comfort temperature) and
from the surroundings (outside ambient
temperature), and according to that data it
implements its logic in order to get to the
desired comfort conditions, utilizing optimal
power consumptions.

The ability to adjust itself to the outdoor

conditions is one of the main factors that makes
these systems so efficient, compared to the
traditional water cooled systems, based on
chillers and fan coils.

Now, let’s dive in, and see how it works in

details. Let’s take as an example a typical
VRF installation, with one outdoor unit and
multiple indoors.

At the beginning, the system is in standstill

condition (everything is turned off).

Once a user turns one of the indoors “ON” by its

local remote, the outdoor “gets noted” regarding
it, and starts working. At this point, it will
examine the outdoor conditions (temperature),
the operating indoor requirements (operation
mode, set point temperature), and will operate
the compressor at the exact level, required to
comply with the indoor requirements.

When another indoor unit is turned on, the

outdoor recalculates the requirements from all
the indoors, and will increase the compressor’s
output, according to the required level of
demand.

This process is constantly occurring with any

change, performed in the HVAC system. As
described, this system is fully automatic, and
regulates its power consumption based on the
demand arriving from the indoor units and
outside
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on the desired
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conditions, modifying: Operation mode (on/off),
Operation state (Cool/Heat/Fan/Dry/Auto),
setpoint temperature, fan speed
(high/medium/low/auto). Controlling those
parameters is the only thing required for proper
operation, and the only thing that is required for
proper integration with the VRF system.

VRF System types

Cooling only systems (less popular) – those
systems can only cool. Heating is not available.
Fan and Dry modes are available for each
indoor unit independently.

Heat Pump systems (most popular) – all the

indoor units can either heat, or cool (not at the
same time). Fan and Dry modes are available for
each indoor unit independently.

Heat Recovery systems (less popular) – those

systems are Guidelines
HDL Integration the most %sophisticated
& 10 Tips forones, where
integrating VRF HV…

cooling and heating may be available by each

indoor unit, independently, at the same time.

Have any questions ?

Want to learn more about how to
integrate HVAC systems? drop us a line
at info@coolautomation.com

Footnotes

1. http://www.daikin.com/products/ac/lineup/vrv
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_refriger

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CooLinkNet – Splits Air Conditioning

Control

Connect Splits air conditioning units with Home

Automation / BMS

CoolAutomation

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