West Columbia, South Carolina -- Allied Air Enterprises was recognized for excellence in product design in the 2023 Dealer Design Awards Program, sponsored by The Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration News magazine. An independent panel of contractors judged the contest, naming the company’s Concord® 4HP17L heat pump as the Dealer Design Awards winner in the HVAC Residential Equipmentcategory. The ACHR News is the leading trade magazine in the heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and refrigeration industries.

Sarah Harding, publisher, The NEWS, said, "These awards give us a unique opportunity to recognize the outstanding research and development efforts that go into many of the innovative products serving the HVACR industry."

With the growing trend around electrification and heat pumps that federal and local governments are driving through incentives and tax credits, the winning heat pump design provides a simplified transition for distributors and dealers to higher efficiency products under new testing standards. The 4HP17 utilizes existing indoor equipment, cutting the number of models being phased out by the 2023 regulations by more than half. 

“For the 4HP17 heat pump, we started with a proven platform and kept design elements the field prefers, like corner-mounted line set connections with plenty of clearance to help make brazing and charging easier,” said Nicholas Orth, Senior Marketing Manager, Allied Air Enterprises. “The Concord heat pump has simplified a complex transition by utilizing our existing indoor equipment and allowing distributors and dealers to have an easier time stocking the right equipment.” 

He noted the other major benefit makes it to the kitchen table, where Allied Air can provide single-stage heat pumps that meet the requirements for a $2,000 tax credit from 1.5- to 4-tons in capacity in the U.S. The same is true in Canada, with the Greener Homes Initiative where Allied Air can help consumers meet the requirements for a $4,000 incentive. 

“Depending on what brand you’re looking at, a consumer would need to step up to multi-stage products to meet these requirements which adds to the price tag,” said Orth.  These incentives are major savings for homeowners and we’re able to provide solutions at an attractive price point.”

He added that much of the industry had to relaunch their indoor line to support the new outdoor equipment, leaving many with stranded inventory that doesn’t have a compliant system match. The new Concord 4HP17L single-stage heat pump reduces complexity by delivering AHRI system matches with Allied Air’s existing line of indoor coils, furnaces, and air handlers.

Key features include:

• Meets ENERGY STAR® 6.1 requirements and qualifies for the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and 25C tax credits from 1.5- to 4.0-tons, giving consumers a $2,000 incentive in the U.S.
• Meets the Canadian Greener Homes Initiative from 1.5- to 4-tons* and provides consumers up to $4,000 in incentives and qualifies for select provincial incentives
• Compatible in dual-fuel applications
• Omniguard® all-aluminum tube and fin coil design with brass-to-copper line set connections. This helps provide a corrosion-resistant coil that matches with aluminum indoor coils and ensures installers don't need to learn new brazing techniques.
• Quiet Shift™ defrost which equalizes system pressures before shifting into defrost and reduces noise
• Factory-installed filter drier to protect the system from contaminants
• Thread-on high- and low-pressure switches for simple, quick service

Winning entries in the Dealer Design Awards were featured in the July 24, 2023, issue of TheACHR News, which is distributed nationally to over 27,000 HVACR contractors, wholesalers and distributors, and other industry professionals. Learn more about Allied Air Enterprises at www.alliedair.com

*Excluding 2.0-ton system matches.

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About Allied Air Enterprises

Allied Air Enterprises™ serves residential and commercial marketplaces in the United States and Canada with the heating and cooling solutions of industry-leading brands like Armstrong Air®, AirEase®, Concord®, Ducane™, Allied™, Allied Commercial™ and MagicPak®. From concept to production, Allied Air HVAC systems are produced through the design, engineering, high-quality testing and manufacturing efforts employed at five Allied facilities located across North America. For more information, visit www.alliedair.com or call 1-800-448-5872.