Full-Scale Global Market Expansion
Kyungdong Navien announced on the 23rd that it participated in 'AHR EXPO 2024,' the largest HVAC exhibition in North America. AHR EXPO 2024 is being held from the 22nd to the 24th in Chicago, USA. This exhibition, which attracts about 2,000 HVAC companies annually, has seen Kyungdong Navien participating for 15 consecutive years.
At this exhibition, Kyungdong Navien introduced eco-friendly and high-efficiency innovative technologies and unveiled a blueprint for targeting the global HVAC market. The flagship product is the 'Condensing Hydro Furnace (NPF).' This product was developed for entry into the North American main heating market, which has an annual scale of 4.7 million units. Conventional gas furnaces supply air heated directly by combustion exhaust gases into indoor spaces, which causes very dry air and risks the inflow of harmful gases indoors. However, the Condensing Hydro Furnace supplies air heated with warm water indoors, solving harmful gas safety issues while providing comfortable air. The unique eco-friendliness of condensing technology is also an advantage. The Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE), a percentage indicating how efficiently fuel is used for heating, reaches 97%.
The high-efficiency 'heat pump' equipped with an inverter compressor is also attracting visitors' attention. A heat pump is a heating and cooling product that utilizes external thermal energy such as geothermal or air heat. Kyungdong Navien plans to link this with the 'Condensing Hydro Furnace' to provide heating in winter and cooling in summer. Through this, they will offer integrated HVAC services, enhance consumer convenience, and accelerate their push into the North American market.
They also showcased a 'water treatment system' that manages household water to improve living environment comfort. A representative product is the 'WEC600 (electric deionization water softener),' scheduled for release around April this year. It features improved convenience and eco-friendliness compared to existing products. Water in the North American region contains large amounts of minerals such as calcium and magnesium, so water softeners that remove these are commonly used. Existing products use 'salt,' which causes the inconvenience of salt replenishment and generates high-salinity wastewater. Kyungdong Navien solved these issues with proprietary technology using electricity.
They also exhibited condensing water heaters and boiler products, each holding the number one position in the North American market. Kyungdong Navien launched the 'Condensing Tankless Water Heater (NPE)' in 2008 when the North American market was dominated by tank-type water heaters. The condensing water heater market, which was about 20,000 units annually in 2008, grew to about 800,000 units last year, with Kyungdong Navien accounting for about half of that. Kyungdong Navien also maintained the number one position in the condensing boiler market with about a 31% market share as of 2022.
Lee Sang-kyu, President of Kyungdong Navien’s U.S. branch, said, "Through this exhibition, we will demonstrate Kyungdong Navien’s sustainable growth strategy as a global HVAC company," adding, "Just as Kyungdong Navien wrote a success story with condensing water heaters, we will target the North American main heating market and expand into the global market through new businesses such as the Condensing Hydro Furnace and heat pumps."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
