What Will Happen to R22 and How Does it Affect You

If you don’t know what R22 is and your air conditioner is five years or older, you should keep reading. Refrigerant is what makes the air coming from your air conditioner cool, so it’s clearly extremely important. Most air conditioners installed in 2010 or before use an air conditioning refrigerant called R22. This refrigerant was instituted in the 1950s and became the primary AC refrigerant in the residential heating and air conditioning industry.

By the 1980s the world started to understand that R22 refrigerants were contributing to the depletion of the Earth’s ozone layer. Not cool. So the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, along with other agencies and organizations, began a phase-out of many ozone-depleting agents, including R22 refrigerant.

By January 2010 the manufacturing and import of R22 would be prohibited. The loophole was current systems would have an exception. So the manufacturing and import was discontinued, but R22 was still available for sell and use until January 2015. Then, by 2020, R22 would practically no longer be utilized, at least in the U.S.

So here’s a brief rundown before we get into how this will affect you:

• R22 is no longer manufactured in North America
• You can get recycled R22 now to service existing heating and cooling systems that uses this specific air conditioner refrigerant
• The cost of R22 is increasing because of the short supply, and by 2020 will no longer be available

So how does this affect you?

If your heating and cooling equipment was built after January 2010, you are most likely not affected by the EPA refrigerant rules and regulations.

If your heating and air conditioning equipment was produced prior to January 2010, especially if it’s older than a decade, you have multiple options:

1) Upgrade with today’s more environmental systems, which use the approved AC refrigerant.

2) Replace parts in your current system to make it compatible with approved AC refrigerant. This is not recommended and may void any remaining warranties.

3) Stick with using recycled R22 until 2020.

The simplest option is to purchase a new, upgraded air conditioner, specifically if your current air conditioning unit is already over 10 years old. Although making an unexpected purchase may not be the easiest decision, Boehmers/Cronin Emery Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning has many financing options that help make the purchase truly affordable. A new system will also be more efficient and deliver better comfort, helping to reduce your energy bills.

The next choice would fluctuate in price and isn’t a permanent option. You could have your equipment retrofitted by a heating and air conditioning expert and move over to an approved air conditioning refrigerant. This demands far more than just flushing out the system and adding new A/C refrigerant; it also requires new parts for the system. Your manufacturer will probably not cover the parts to make this change because retrofitting your A/C equipment will likely void the warranty. It’s also not a permanent solution and will probably only give you up to three more years of use. It’s a temporary fix, and might be less expensive than a new air conditioning unit today, but the investment in a new upgraded air conditioner will probably benefit most homeowners in reliability, peace-of-mind, and long-term comfort.

The last choice is to change nothing. You can continue to use recycled R22 air conditioner refrigerant for the foreseeable future. While this may seem like a great option, you encounter a few issues. The cost of servicing old R22 air conditioners is starting to climb to over several hundred dollars (easily a down payment on a new air conditioning unit). You will also most likely see the prices increase as demand continues to rise on a substance that is no longer manufactured or widely available.

If you aren’t positive what type of AC refrigerant your air conditioning system uses, we are available to help. Call Boehmers/Cronin Emery Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning today and we can provide an inspection to determine if you are currently using R22 and, if so, which plan of action works best for you.

Does Your HVAC System Use R-22?

If you have an AC that was built before 2010, your air conditioner will almost definitely have R-22. Although, if you acquired your air conditioner after January 1, 2010, then your unit probably doesn't have any R22. You can lookup the type of refrigerant your air conditioner uses by checking the appliance’s nameplate. This nameplate is often located on the outdoor condenser of your central air conditioning system. Alternatively, you can check your user’s manual or call your local Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) service company.

We know that the process of switching over to an approved AC refrigerant can be frustrating, but it’s saving the environment and saving our air.