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.
