The Brand Story
TOSOT: The Export Name of a Zhuhai Air Conditioning Giant
Zhuhai, on the southern coast of Guangdong province, 1989. A small cooling engineering company opens its doors with about 200 employees and builds fewer than 20,000 air conditioners a year. A year later a newcomer named Dong Mingzhu joins the company. Within a generation that small outfit would become Gree Electric Appliances, a company that builds tens of millions of units a year, and TOSOT would become the name it carries to homes and contractors around the world.
Chapter 1 · 1989
A cooling workshop by the sea
Gree began life as Zhuhai City Haili Cooling Engineering Company Limited. In its early years it was a modest manufacturer with a few hundred workers and a small annual output, a long way from the company it would become.
Chapter 2 · 1990 to 1996
Dong Mingzhu and the making of Gree
Dong Mingzhu joined in 1990 and stayed for the long climb. She was appointed chief executive in 2009 and today serves as chairwoman, known widely as Sister Dong. Along the way, the company restructured in 1994 and took the name GREE Electric Appliances, Inc. of Zhuhai. Two years later, in 1996, Gree listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
Gree remains a majority state-owned enterprise, primarily controlled by the city of Zhuhai. It has also worked alongside Japan's Daikin: the two companies operate two joint ventures in Zhuhai, one making devices and one making precision molds.
Chapter 3 · 2005
A second name for the rest of the world
In 2005 TOSOT entered the global market as a Gree brand. The idea was straightforward: give homeowners and contractors outside China a line of residential and light commercial equipment built on Gree's vertically integrated manufacturing, where the company makes many of its own components rather than buying them. Over the years that followed, TOSOT spread into markets across Asia, Europe, the Americas and Africa.
In the United States, the ACHR News directory lists TOSOT as a brand owned and manufactured by Gree, with an office in Las Vegas, Nevada, and a range that runs from ductless splits and PTACs to central heat pumps and VRF systems.
North of the border, TOSOT names TOSOT Supplies Inc. as its authorized master distributor for Canada, where the brand's catalog shows how far it has grown beyond a single product type: wall-mounted, slim duct, cassette, console and floor-standing indoor units, multi-zone outdoor units, central ducted systems in both R-410A and R-32, and VRF equipment for larger buildings. Some earlier models, such as the Lomo 38 and Multi Ultra, have already been retired, a sign of a line that keeps turning over as efficiency standards and refrigerants change.
Chapter 4 · Today
Scale you can measure in millions
Today Gree employs about 70,000 people and produces roughly 65.5 million units a year, and TOSOT describes its parent as the world's largest residential air conditioner manufacturer. TOSOT points to more than 12,000 square meters of research and development labs and more than 300 certified laboratories within the Gree system, staffed by thousands of engineers, and says it has invested more than $1 million in testing equipment for those labs. That is the part of the story most homeowners never see: the labs where equipment is tested long before it reaches a living room.
The Lineup
What TOSOT builds today
TOSOT's range covers most of a home's heating and cooling needs and a good part of a small commercial building's: single-zone and multi-zone mini splits in wall, slim duct, cassette, console and floor-standing styles; central ducted heat pump systems and dual fuel systems; the TWOV furnace series; the Versati air-to-water heat pump; TMV VRF systems; and an R-32 commercial rooftop unit. Here is what HVAC365 carries:
- Wall-mounted ductless mini splits: the Cosmo series, including a 9,000 BTU heat pump at 20.5 SEER2, and the higher-efficiency Aoraki series, with an 18,000 BTU model rated at 24.5 SEER2.
- Single-zone systems: one outdoor unit paired with one indoor unit, the simplest way to heat and cool a single room or addition.
- Multi-zone ductless systems: such as the Cosmo 18,000 BTU dual-zone system at 21 SEER2, which runs two 9,000 BTU indoor units from a single outdoor unit.
- Ductless mini split heat pumps: nearly all of the TOSOT ductless systems HVAC365 lists are heat pumps, providing both cooling and heating.
- Mini splits by room size: including 12,000 BTU mini splits for rooms of roughly 450 to 550 square feet.
- Central and specialty equipment: the TOSOT APEX 5-ton, 60,000 BTU central heat pump system at 18.5 SEER2 with a multi-position air handler, and a 16,000 BTU non-ducted RV rooftop air conditioner with heat.
The Next Chapter
Two refrigerants, one direction
TOSOT has built product lines on both R-410A and R-32, and its newer equipment is moving toward R-32. The Cosmo and Aoraki ductless heat pumps in HVAC365's current lineup use R-32, a single-component refrigerant with a much lower global warming potential than R-410A. Because R-32 is classified A2L, or mildly flammable, installation and service call for A2L-rated tools and the manufacturer's procedures, and R-32 and R-410A components should never be mixed in one system.
At a Glance
TOSOT by the numbers
- Parent company
- GREE Electric Appliances, Inc. of Zhuhai
- Gree roots
- 1989, Zhuhai, Guangdong
- Renamed Gree
- 1994
- Stock listing
- Shenzhen Stock Exchange, 1996
- TOSOT global launch
- 2005
- Chairwoman
- Dong Mingzhu
- Gree employees
- About 70,000
- Annual output
- About 65.5 million units
- Key series
- Cosmo, Aoraki, APEX
Questions
Frequently asked questions about TOSOT
Who makes TOSOT?
TOSOT is owned and manufactured by GREE Electric Appliances, Inc. of Zhuhai, China, which TOSOT describes as the world's largest residential air conditioner manufacturer.
When did TOSOT start?
TOSOT entered the global market in 2005 as a Gree brand. Gree itself traces its roots to 1989 in Zhuhai, Guangdong.
Where is Gree based?
Gree is headquartered in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China. It is listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and is majority state-owned, primarily controlled by the city of Zhuhai.
What is the difference between TOSOT Cosmo and Aoraki?
Both are TOSOT wall-mounted ductless lines. In HVAC365's catalog, Cosmo covers single-zone and dual-zone heat pumps at about 20.5 to 21 SEER2, while Aoraki is the higher-efficiency series, with models rated up to 24.5 SEER2.
What refrigerant do TOSOT mini splits use?
TOSOT builds both R-410A and R-32 product lines. The Cosmo and Aoraki ductless heat pumps HVAC365 currently lists use R-32.
Does TOSOT make more than mini splits?
Yes. TOSOT's range also includes central ducted heat pump systems, furnaces, VRF systems, air-to-water heat pumps, commercial rooftop units and an RV rooftop air conditioner.
