Every figure includes its question wording and base size, with study methodology and fieldwork details included in the report.
Digital download · Secure checkout
A finding from this report
VRF slipped for the first time in a decade. The forecast didn't.
Variable refrigerant flow has climbed at every wave of this study since 2016. In 2024 it went backwards — the share of projects including VRV, VRF or VRFZ fell significantly against 2022. Yet professionals still expect more than half of their projects to include the technology within five years. That gap between what the industry is doing and what it expects to do is the whole story of this category.
Share of projects including VRV, VRF or VRFZ
Average reported · first wave against latest
Both reported figures are down significantly against 2022 — the first decline since the study began. The five-year expectation held above half. A thirteen-point gap now sits between what professionals are specifying and what they think they will be specifying.
Contractors, installers, engineers, distributors and wholesalers of VRV, VRF or VRFZ equipment. 2024 wave n=303–323 for these questions, fielded September 3–16, 2024; 2016 wave n=423–435. “Don't know” responses and outliers removed. Significance tested at 95% against the prior wave. Source: myCLEARopinion Insights Hub, VRV VRF VRFZ myCLEAReport.
So which manufacturer is winning the category?
Unaided awareness, familiarity, hands-on experience, likelihood to recommend, perceived industry leadership today and five years out — scored manufacturer by manufacturer, and split contractor against engineer.
Four more numbers from the study
90%
rate reliability very or extremely important when specifying a manufacturer, with quality at 88%. Operating efficiency, at 76%, has fallen since 2022.
3
manufacturers is the average a contractor has worked with in two years, and 63% have used three or fewer. Shelf space is the constraint.
65%
use manufacturer's reps as an information source, just ahead of manufacturer websites at 64%. The rep is still the channel.
49 tons
average project size, up on 2022, at an average cost of $3,203 per ton. Office buildings remain the most common application at 69%.
2024 wave. Base sizes vary by question and are reported on every chart in the report.
Every manufacturer in the study
Seventeen VRV, VRF and VRFZ manufacturers are measured for familiarity. Those clearing the reporting threshold are carried through the full scorecard — unaided awareness, experience, likelihood to recommend, perceived leadership now and in five years — with significance testing between manufacturers, between contractors and engineers, and against prior waves back to 2016.
Listed alphabetically · order carries no ranking
CarrierDaikin ACFujitsuGreeHaierHitachiJCI / YorkLennoxLGMideaMitsubishi Electric HVACPanasonicRheemSamsungSANYOToshibaTrane
Gree was added to the manufacturer list in 2024. All brand names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners and appear here only to identify the manufacturers measured in this study. Their inclusion is not an endorsement, and no ranking, score or standing is implied by their listing or order.
The manufacturer data stays in the report
Everything above is category context. The 53 pages behind it are the scorecard, run twice — once for contractors and once for engineers, because the two specify differently and rank the manufacturers differently.
Pages 9–10 & 39–40
The manufacturer scorecards
Every leading manufacturer down the side, six metrics across — unaided awareness, familiarity, experience, recommendation, industry leader today and in five years — then the whole thing again split contractor versus engineer. If you buy this for two pages, these are them.
Pages 32–43
Manufacturer analysis
Unaided awareness and familiarity trended back to 2016, best-in-class ratings, who is seen as the industry leader, and the reasons professionals give for recommending each manufacturer.
Pages 24–31
What drives specification
Product, non-product, operation and equipment factors each ranked in full, then cut by respondent type — including the factors contractors weigh far more heavily than engineers do.
Pages 19–23
System trends
Heat recovery, simultaneous heating and cooling, MERV filter rating and the ducted-versus-ductless split — each trended, and one of them moved sharply this wave.
Pages 11–18
Industry overview
Project volume, type of work, which markets the technology lands in, project size and cost per ton, where professionals get their information, and how equipment is actually purchased.
Pages 44–52
Appendix
Best-in-class manufacturer ratings trended across four pages, professional association membership, and the full demographic and firmographic profile of the sample.
53 pages · n=362 · five waves since 2016
Know where your brand stands in VRF.
Seventeen manufacturers on one scale, contractors and engineers reported separately, and eight years of trend behind every figure. Every chart carries its base size and question wording.
Instant digital download
Who was surveyed
362
Usable completes
Contractors, installers, engineers, distributors and wholesalers of VRV, VRF or VRFZ heating and cooling equipment. Fielded September 3–16, 2024.
5
Waves since 2016
Fielded every two years — 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024 — on consistent questions, so movement in the category and in each manufacturer is readable rather than guessable.
2
Audiences reported apart
Contractor and engineer results are broken out separately throughout, with statistically significant differences between them flagged on every chart.
Sample drawn from subscribers to The NEWS, PM Engineer, Engineered Systems, Supply House Times and SNIPS, plus the myCLEARopinion panel. Closed-ended data is tabulated in SPSS. Base sizes appear on every chart as “n=xx”; bases of 30 or more are treated as statistically reliable and bases under 15 are read directionally only. Significance is tested at a 95% confidence level, between manufacturers, between contractors and engineers, and against the prior wave.
What's in the report
53 pages · table of contents
Purpose & Objectives
4
Sampling & Methodology
5
Key Findings
6–10
VRV, VRF, VRFZ Industry Overview
11–18
Project volume, type of work & current markets
12–14
Project size, cost per ton, information sources & purchase channels
15–18
VRV, VRF, VRFZ System Trends
19–23
Manufacturer Selection Decisions
24–31
Manufacturer Analysis
32–43
Appendix & Demographics
44–52
Contact Us
53
Frequently asked questions
What do VRV, VRF and VRFZ stand for?
VRV is Variable Refrigerant Volume, VRF is Variable Refrigerant Flow, and VRFZ is a Variable Refrigerant Flow Zoning system. They describe zoned heating and cooling systems that vary refrigerant flow to each indoor unit rather than cycling a compressor on and off. This study covers all three together, as the trade generally specifies them together.
Is the VRF market growing?
Over a decade, clearly. Wave to wave, not in 2024. An average 39% of projects included VRV, VRF or VRFZ in 2024, up from 24% in 2016 but down significantly against 2022 — the first decline since the study began. Professionals still expect 52% of projects to include the technology within five years.
What matters most when specifying a VRF manufacturer?
Reliability, ahead of everything. 90% rate reliability very or extremely important and 88% say the same of quality. On the non-product side, technical support and product availability tie at 80%, both on a directional rise, ahead of expected product life (77%) and warranty coverage (72%). Brand reputation comes last of the non-product factors at 65%.
Which VRF manufacturers rank highest?
That is the report, and it is not published here. Seventeen manufacturers are measured on unaided awareness, familiarity, hands-on experience, likelihood to be recommended, perceived industry leadership today and five years out — scored on one scale, reported separately for contractors and engineers, and trended back to 2016.
How many VRF manufacturers does a contractor work with?
Three on average, and 63% have worked with three or fewer in the past two years. As in most HVAC categories, winning a contractor usually means displacing someone already specified.
Where are VRF systems actually being installed?
Office buildings remain the most frequent application at 69%, but multi-family residential rose significantly to 62%. Work splits roughly evenly across light commercial, residential, institutional and industrial, and 56% of it is new construction. Ductless now accounts for 54% of the work, up on 2022.
Does this cover both contractors and engineers?
Yes, and separately rather than blended. The two groups differ sharply: engineers are more likely to name the leading manufacturers unaided and to have experience with them, while contractors weigh far more selection factors heavily and lean on trade magazines and trade shows where engineers use manufacturer websites, reps and webinars.
Who should buy this report?
VRF manufacturers tracking their standing against named competitors; product and brand managers deciding where to spend; distributors and reps setting line cards against real specifier preference; and anyone who needs a defensible read on where zoned HVAC has moved since 2016.