Czech household gas pressure regulators are back on the scene. HUTIRA now manufactures the most widely used B NG household gas pressure regulators

HUTIRA holds a certificate for the production of B NG gas regulators. This has enabled us to start manufacturing these two-stage regulators for family houses. Until now we have only distributed these gas pressure regulators in the Czech Republic, but we are now becoming their key manufacturer for the whole of the European market. The production line has a capacity of 50 thousand regulators a year, and for our HUTIRA brand this is a fundamental milestone in the gas industry.

Thanks to HUTIRA, the BNG series of household gas pressure regulators, specifically the B6 NG and B10 NG models, are now manufactured in the Czech Republic. The production line at the company’s headquarters in Popůvky was launched after being certified by the Engineering Test Institute, and we plan to supply these Czech regulators primarily to the Central European market. Every year we are able to produce up to 50 thousand gas regulators for family houses, 20 thousand of which we plan to deliver to customers in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Why is this step so fundamentally important for us? We have been working in the gas industry for over 30 years; we previously only distributed these regulators on the Czech market. “B NG series regulators were formerly produced in France and were known under the Francel brand. Later, instead of the Francel home regulators, which are highly popular in this country, the manufacturer Emerson switched to another model sold under the Fisher B NG brand, while our company had them certified for the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and also handled imports, sales and service. From this year, however, we are now producing this equipment, which we have been involved with for so many years. The most widely used household gas pressure regulators are now a 100% Czech product, which is none too common in the gas industry” said HUTIRA Operations Director Hynek Faktor.

Before the new production line was opened, the regulators were evaluated by experts from the Engineering Test Institute. “We are always pleased to be able to help our customers to grow, especially when it’s a Czech company. We are very happy that HUTIRA has repeatedly chosen us to assess their new products’ compliance with the standard. We are sure that the certificate we have issued will help strengthen the position of HUTIRA products on the market,” said Petr Kuběna, head of the ETI mechanical equipment test centre.

Yet moving production to the Czech Republic is a relatively unusual step. “In doing so, we are bucking the trend. While others are moving their operations to Eastern Europe and Asia, we, on the other hand, are bringing production to the Czech Republic,” said Radek Kundrata, Sales, Marketing and Development Director at HUTIRA. Reasons for taking this step include the recent border closures caused by the pandemic and deliveries of goods and material held up by the large container ship stranded in the Suez Canal. The aim was and still is to free ourselves from our dependence on imports from abroad.

This new production programme also has another advantage for HUTIRA, as it will be able to respond more flexibly to dynamic developments on the domestic gas market. One example is the transition to hydrogen or a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas. We can expect to see these energy sources increase in importance in the next few years, and our regulators are now ready and able to distribute hydrogen. “Even in these uncertain times for the gas industry we are sure that this sector has a huge future in the Czech Republic. We have great faith in this, as can be seen in our investment in the new production line,” added Radek Kundrata.

The B6 NG regulator is commonly found in family houses, and is generally housed in a cabinet on the edge of the plot of land together with the main gas shutoff point and the gas meter. In the Czech Republic this regulator is by far the most widely used type in buildings like these. It has been used on the Czech market since 2008, when it replaced the Francel B6. The first certification was obtained by the former HUTIRA – BRNO in 1995, which gradually came to be the market leader in the sale of B series regulators. Hundreds of thousands of these devices have been installed in the Czech Republic up to now.

When it first began operating on the Czech market, what was then HUTIRA – BRNO reached out to experts from the Engineering Test Institute, to help them obtain certification. Describing this cooperation, Tomáš Hruška, Director of the Engineering Test Institute, said: “The ETI was there with HUTIRA – BRNO on the Czech market from the very beginning. The testing and subsequent approval of these pressure regulators, for which there were no relevant norms in place in the Czech Republic at that time, was a challenge for us. It is a great honour for us that we have been able to serve this company for almost 30 years, and thus fulfil our motto: The force that drives our company is our customers; their needs are the impulse for everything we do.”