If you depend on a heating or cooling AC that uses R22 refrigerant, an ozone diminishing substance, you may be in for a shock during the next maintenance call.
- From December 1, 2020, production and import of R22 refrigerant will be against the law in the United States.
If your quality HVAC or heat pump unit needs a tuneup that involves refrigerant, you’ll have to decide between a huge refrigerant bill or an aircon replacement. Apart from continuing maintenance needs of existing air conditioners, the ban on manufacturing and import of R22 is active. The EPA also forbade the manufacture and replacement of new R22 HVACs or heat pumps. It means manufacturers of AC systems and heat pumps must redesign their systems to accommodate R410A. If your aircon or heat pump was produced and installed before December 1, 2012, there’s a fine chance that it used R22 refrigerant. Your AC unit may have a label on it that indicates the type of refrigerant it needs. Due to the shrinking availability of R22 refrigerant, it is becoming more scarce. As the supply lessens, you may end up paying an excess amount for a maintenance that needs R22 refrigerant rather than a down payment on a new heat pump. Just remember that HVAC systems and heat pumps are not designed to use up refrigerants. Refrigerant simply travels through a continuous loop of coils. If an AC technician suspects a leak, they need to find and fix the refrigerant leak and not simply top off a leaking air conditioner. When you need to purchase a new AC unit to replace your old one, you will benefit excessively from using R410A refrigerant and save money. This is because supply of R410A is higher than that of R22 refrigerant.
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