Novec 1230 is used as gaseous fire suppression agent in scenarios where water-based fire suppression (for example, from a fire sprinkler) would be impractical or where it could damage expensive equipment or property, such as museums, server rooms, banks, clean rooms and hospitals. It functions by rapidly removing heat to extinguish a fire before it starts; also, its density enables it to displace air and thereby deprive the fire of oxygen. Novec 1230 can be used in both total/partial/localized flooding systems, and directional spray-type applications; it is also used in portable extinguishers for specialized applications. The Patent for Novec 1230 as fire extinguishant ended on July 19, 2020. Since the expiry of the patent, multiple companies have brought equivalent products to market under the chemical name FK-5-1-12. 
Recently, it has found active use in microencapsulated form in the manufacture of fire-extinguishing composite materials. Samsung SDI is using this product to extinguish fires in the early stages of modular high-capacity storage systems (ESS) based on lithium-ion batteries for solar panels and electric vehicles. In August 2019, Samsung SDI officially announced its investment of $ 169 million into fire-extinguishing composite materials based on microencapsulated Novec 1230. The firm later reported that UL9540A testing for this product was passed.