Energy for life Riello

Riello, a company specialising in the production and sale of burners for residential, commercial and industrial applications, managed to navigate the crisis of 2020 unscathed. A combination of technological innovation and extensive experience helped the business to sustain its market position. Romana Moares reports.

ENERGY FOR LIFE

Headquartered in Legnano, Italy, Riello is a major force in the burners and heating sectors and an international expert in combustion technology, offering systems and technology for air-conditioning and heating for all environments. Riello group owns more than 50 patents and seven brands.

The group has eight production sites and five research centres, employing around 8,000 people which includes its own employees, external agents and independent distributors. It also owns four permanent organisations abroad and a commercial network of 13 foreign subsidiaries serving thousands of customers in over 120 markets.

The Riello organisational model focuses on the quality of its industrial processes and products, business autonomy, effective commercial strategies and service efficiency. The commitment to the company’s core product - the burner - has led Riello to have the industry’s largest and most advanced manufacturing plant in the world, and a modern, highly efficient organisation concentrating on highly qualified technical, industrial and commercial skills.

The group offers a wide range of products: from large powerful burners to produce heat in commercial and industrial applications, to smaller burners for residential applications; from wall-hung and floor-standing boilers to water heaters, air conditioners, system accessories, as well as solar heating, photo-voltaic, geothermal and cogeneration units.

Focusing on ways to conserve energy and reduce environmental impact, Riello has prioritised cogeneration and renewable energy use, mostly using solar panels. Today the company offers state-of-the-art technologies for the most sophisticated heating and air-conditioning systems that work in line with new standards in terms of efficiency, reduced energy consumption and environmental protection.

The Polish foothold

Its direct presence through subsidiaries is critical in markets considered to be particularly strategic in terms of volumes, required product characteristics and the specific nature of the territory and the economic scenario.

In Poland, the group is represented by several brands across several market segments: the Beretta brand - rooted in Poland as a major producer of reliable condensing boilers for heating homes, apartments and companies; the Riello brand - a supplier of gas and oil burners for many market segments from the food sector to heavy industry; and the Sylber brand - condensing boilers available in DIY stores.

Riello’s story in Poland began at the turn of the century, when the company opened a green-field facility in Toruń (northern Poland) in 2001, focused on the production of Beretta condensing boilers. Since then, the product range has expanded to include wall-hung boilers and water heaters.

Today, RUG (Riello Urządzenia Grzewcze S.A.) in Toruń employs over 400 people and enjoys a growing market position. Riello’s second Polish production facility in Wrocław, opened not long after RUG, is today the number one producer of burners in Poland.

RUG Riello competes with the quality of its products, its flexible response to market demand, technical support to customers and product innovation. The company’s core asset, however, is its experienced staff who design and manufacture comprehensive solutions from gas and oil burners and condensing boiler solutions and modern control devices.

Green innovations

Recent innovations include the BeSmart App - a remote control for the operation and programming of the boiler and thermostat, providing full control and diagnosis of boilers at a distance, and enabling definition of different heating zones with individual programming of temperature and operating hours.

The product offering has recently been expanded to include the BREVA air conditioner, a new wall mounted split air conditioner with R32 environmentally friendly refrigerant reaching the A++ efficiency class, which reduces operating costs. The new product is offered in 4 versions for the greatest comfort and maximum efficiency.

Just recently the company has launched another new product range - Hydronic Unit B HE air-to-water heat pumps. The Unit B is a quiet mono-block heat pump with compact dimensions, designed for installation in single-family houses.

The unit includes a rotary DC inverter compressor, electronic expansion valve, fans with a brushless EC motor and a finned coil with a hydrophilic coating. The pump can work with external temperatures down to –20 °C. The Hydronic Unit B HE pump can be installed as a stand-alone heat source or be part of a hybrid system.

More innovations are in the pipeline. The company’s strategy for the coming years is very simple: offering the best products and the best service, caring for the environment and continuing development and improvement in each area of the company’s business. n