Beijer Ref UK Celebrates Major Industry Recognition for SEC

Beijer Ref UK staff celebrating their win at the H&V News Awards 2025, pictured with Howard Noble, innovation and marketing director; Lee Downham, group support and design director; Clair Deighton, product development manager; and awards host Paul Sinha.

An on-site installation of SEC, providing continuous hot water as a standalone system or from recovered energy from refrigeration systems.

UNITED KINGDOM, December 3, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Beijer Ref UK has won the Commercial HVAC Product of the Year – Heating category at the H&V News Awards 2025 in London, with the Sustainable Energy Controller (SEC) taking the top spot. The

award recognises SEC as a practical, high-impact solution that helps commercial buildings cut energy use, reduce carbon emissions and produce free hot water from refrigeration and air conditioning systems.

SEC is a standalone heat recovery and energy optimisation unit that captures heat normally rejected to atmosphere and converts it into usable hot water. It can continue delivering hot water regardless of whether the connected refrigeration system is actively cooling. When the system is running, SEC harvests all available heat; when cooling is not required, it switches to operate independently as an air-to-water heat pump, ensuring a reliable and continuous supply of hot water without relying on fossil-fuel boilers or immersion heaters.

Designed to integrate easily into both new and existing systems, SEC can act as a pre-heat solution alongside traditional hot water systems or operate as a direct source where refrigeration energy can meet full demand.

SEC works with a wide range of HFC and HFO refrigerants and is available in two versions, SEC100 and SEC200, covering heat-rejection loads from 2 kW to 10 kW and generating between 590 and 2,080 litres of hot water per day. A version that can operate on CO2 systems will also be launched in the new year.

The benefits that secured its award win are clear: free hot water, lower operational energy costs, significant reductions in carbon emissions and a typical return on investment of 9 to 18 months. Across commercial applications, SEC can recover more than 30,000 kWh of energy each year, helping to cut reliance on gas or electricity for hot water production.

Lee Downham, Group Support & Design Director, Beijer Ref UK, said: “I am delighted to see SEC recognised in this way. Having initially conceived the product and subsequently worked with the team to bring it to market, it is incredibly rewarding to see the product now being used so widely and delivering real energy savings for customers in everyday applications.”

Independent case studies across hospitality, retail, food production and other sectors show consistent reductions in energy spend and CO₂ output. In one scenario, recovered heat exceeded 36,000 kWh per year, delivering thousands of litres of hot water and reducing annual running costs by almost £9,400 when compared with electric heating.

SEC has already established itself as an effective and accessible solution for businesses looking to cut emissions and operating costs quickly. The award win reinforces this position, recognising the real value SEC delivers by turning waste heat into a usable resource and helping organisations make meaningful progress towards net-zero ambitions without the need for major system changes.

For more information about SEC, please click here

Image shows the official opening of Beijer Ref's Glasgow Academy by Lord Haughey
Beijer Ref UK staff celebrating their win at the H&V News Awards 2025, pictured with Howard Noble, innovation and marketing director; Lee Downham, group support and design director; Clair Deighton, product development manager; and awards host Paul Sinha.

Guests at the opening of Beijer Ref's Glasgow Training Academy
An on-site installation of SEC, providing continuous hot water as a standalone system or from recovered energy from refrigeration systems.

ABOUT BEIJER REF

Beijer Ref, one of the world’s largest global refrigeration wholesalers, operates across 45 countries, employing 5,500 employees and supplies over 200,000 customers from over 500 branches.

Specialising in the supply of sustainable refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump equipment to the trade, the company also offers ancillary parts to enable the equipment to be installed and serviced.