An Investigative Report by Heat Pump Exchange
This report, published by Heat Pump Exchange, an independent investigative watchdog for the North American heat pump market, exposes the fabricated performance data published by brands whose units are illegal to import, specify, sell, install, and use in North America. The report documents the false ratings, manipulated numbers, the full scope of misrepresentation, and fraud used by these brands.
The Relabeling Scheme
Factory: Nordica
Ice Air, PMC Green, Applied Comfort, Islandaire, DesignLine, Dubbll, Waysos, GeoSmart NetZero, and other brands relabel the same unit by Nordica.
Factory: Zymbo
Williams, Waysos, Ortech, Mits Air, Silktech, Genuine Comfort, Technoact, and Kinghome relabel a Zymbo unit.
Factory: Wuxi Hammer
Wuxi Hammer owns the Inspiron Air brand and also makes units for Multi MFG.
Factory: Exinda
Exinda, yet another such company, offers units under its own brand, which are marketed in Canada by Mits Airconditioning.
These cheap units[1] all use fake performance data.
On the Record
We welcome any litigation; our lawyers are ready.
At Heat Pump Exchange, we are fully aware that publishing this report invites defamation claims from the brands we call out. If anything we state here is false, any or all of these brands can take us to court and win substantial damages.
In discovery, these brands selling in the USA would be forced to demonstrate that their numbers are real through independent laboratory testing, which they know won’t happen. In Canada, it’s much worse for these brands, as independent lab testing is legally required for import, sale, or use. None of them has that, as none are listed as required by law on the NRCan database. All are illegal.
These brands cheat by publishing performance numbers that are not derived from any laboratory testing. They invent fake SEER, SEER2, EER, EER2, CEER, COP, COP2, and BTU values that defy NRCan (Canada) and DOE (USA) testing methods.
Of course, none of them has AHRI certification to verify their claimed (and phony) performance data.
Everything in this report is easily checked, verified, and confirmed. All information is publicly available, and we list the source for every claim to make verification simple. Every specification is taken directly from the manufacturer's documentation, which you can view by clicking the links in each section.
This is not a report of opinions — everything here is fact.
Quick Summary
This report presents substantial technical and legal evidence of a systematic pattern of fraud, illegal activity, and misrepresentation of performance ratings across several heat pump brands sold in North America, including Applied Comfort, DesignLine, Dubbll, Exinda, Forest Air, GeoSmart NetZero, Ice Air, Inspiron Air, Islandaire, Kinghome, Mits Air, Multi MFG, Ortech, PMC Green, Silktech, Techno, Waysos, Williams, Zymbo, and others.
These companies use cheap heat pumps manufactured by companies such as Nordica, Zymbo, and Wuxi Hammer, and publish efficiency data that not only violates NRCan- or DOE-required testing methods but is also outright fabricated. As a result, everyone involved in selling, specifying, or installing these units faces significant legal and financial risks due to compliance failures.
In North America, all air-conditioning and heat-pump systems must be listed in the DOE Compliance Certification Management System (CCMS) (USA) or the NRCan database (Canada). It is illegal to import or sell a unit that is not listed. At the time of this publication, March 2026, there is not a single one of these units listed in the NRCan Searchable Product List. Only three brands are listed in the DOE Compliance Certification Management System (CCMS) Database, albeit all with fake data.
Critical performance metrics—including BTU, SEER, SEER2, CEER, EER, EER2, COP, COP2, and HSPF2—are faked to appear compliant and impressive, rather than actual laboratory results. Our analysis and testing reveal mathematical contradictions and performance claims that cannot be reconciled with engineering principles and the laws of thermodynamics, demonstrating that the published figures are fundamentally inaccurate. Some brands simply do not publish the required data at all.
Some brands attempt to classify their units as Room Air Conditioners (“RAC”). In the USA, this is not allowed because the units do not meet the DOE definition of a Room Air Conditioner. In Canada, while the unit meets the definition of a Room Air Conditioner, most fail to meet the required CEER ratings. Others use the EER ratings for Packaged Terminal Heat Pumps (“PTHP”), yet their units do not meet the definition of a PTHP under DOE (USA) or NRCan (Canada) regulations.
By failing to classify properly and publish accurate numbers, these units systematically fail to meet the current minimum efficiency standards. This constitutes a direct violation of the Energy Efficiency Act (Canada) and the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (USA), rendering the units non-compliant and illegal to sell and install in Canada or the USA.
Non-compliance creates significant legal exposure for all participants:
Inside the Report
Brand by Brand Detailed Violations
These illegal units are openly available on Alibaba, where anyone can buy them directly from the manufacturer for even less than the relabelers sell them for. ↑