Posted: April 17, 2018
The extended phase out of R-22—the refrigerant used in older home air conditioning systems—has been ongoing for decades now. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandated the phase out because R-22, when released into the atmosphere, harms the earth’s ozone layer.
That’s why all a/c systems made since 2010 use a “greener” refrigerant called R-410A. Of course, R-22 is still being used as a refrigerant in older equipment. There’s no law that says you can’t.
But as the availability of R-22 gets more limited, its price becomes more expensive. In less than two years, R-22 will no longer be manufactured at all.
That’s a big—and expensive—problem if your old a/c system leaks R-22 refrigerant and you need to add more.
If you’re not sure what type of refrigerant your air conditioning system has, please contact us. We’ll tell you about your options in new systems. All of the A/C systems we install use economical and environmentally–friendly R-410 refrigerant instead of expensive and scarce R-22.
Besides the refrigerant issue, keep in mind that all new air conditioning systems are many times more efficient than models available even a decade ago. Upgrading to a higher efficiency cooling system can save you a lot of money over the long run—on utility bills and repair costs.