Sixty years old and still the beating heart of global refrigeration
Across supermarkets, cold rooms, ice cream machines, heat pumps, and comfort cooling systems, the T2 continues to ensure stability, safety, and energy efficiency. And while technology has changed, regulations have tightened, and new refrigerants have emerged, one fact remains unchanged:
The T2 simply works. Every day. Everywhere.
From its roots in the hands of Danish engineers, the T2 has grown into a global icon taught in refrigeration courses, trusted by installers, and imitated (but never matched) by competitors. And the facts tell their own story:
- 65 million T2 valves sold to date
- Used on every continent, in every climate
- Still produced in Denmark and China with the same precision and craftsmanship that defined its beginning.
A design that outlived a generation of technology
When the T2 was created, no one could have predicted:
- Environmental legislation that would rewrite refrigeration chemistry
- Automation that would redefine manufacturing
- Global supply chains reshaped repeatedly
- The rise of digital tools supporting sizing, installation, and service
- Entirely new categories of cooling applications
Yet through all this, the T2 proved adaptable, robust, and evergreen.
Senior Specialist at Danfoss Climate Solutions, Ejner Kobberø Andersen, who has worked with the T2 since 1989, highlights this legacy:
“Where other components were replaced, redesigned, or retired, the T2 continued. Sometimes improved, but never fundamentally changed. We often joke that the T2 is the valve that refuses to grow old.”
And perhaps that is the secret behind its success:
It was designed right from the start - and by passionate people.
Behind every T2 stands a rich history of people who poured their skill, curiosity, and pride into it. From designers and maritime engineers in the early days to today’s digital-age manufacturing specialists. Their work ensures the T2 remains synonymous with reliability.
As one long-time installer once said:
"The T2 is like a good colleague, dependable, familiar, and always ready to perform."
More relevant than ever
In a world that demands energy efficiency, lowGWP refrigerants, and sustainability, the T2 continues to meet the moment.
Director of Product Management for Mechanical Expansion, Lasse Nicolai Langmaack, who has led T2 for four years and worked with the T2 valve for 15, still admires the strength and reliability of this iconic product:
“The T2 helps reduce energy consumption, supports new refrigerants without compromising performance, keeps food cold and safe, protects compressors and extends system lifetimes, and forms the backbone of countless refrigeration solutions. The T2 is not just surviving. It’s simply thriving.”
A toast to 60 years of the Golden Egg
If the T2 taught us anything over the past six decades, it is that reliability never goes out of style. While new technologies will continue to emerge, and Danfoss will innovate far beyond what anyone imagined in 1966, the T2 remains a symbol of what we stand for:
Engineering a better future!
Here’s to 60 years of the T2.
And to the millions more valves and stories, still to come.
Authored by:
Niels Robert Arbjerg
Senior Vice President, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Controls
Controls and Thermal Management
Danfoss Climate Solutions
Today in 2026, Danfoss has manufactured 65 million T2 valves, and to mark the valve’s 60th anniversary, we are proud to add this appendix to the existing industrial fairy tale of the T2: The Golden Egg from Danfoss, which was launched for the T2’s 50th anniversary. Click on the button below to dive deeper into the products legacy.