What is R-22 Refirgerant?
Most Air conditioners will use one of these two types of refrigerant over the other, either the R-410A or the R-22. I haven’t paid much attention to the details while inspecting homes because it didn’t make much of a difference to me before, but that started to change. Prices for refrigerants are starting to skyrocket, and there is no expectation for the price to fluctuate like oil. So it’s just going to continue to rise.
Why is the price of R-22 increasing?
The R-22 Is becoming more and more uncommon within the United States as they are being phased out of production, aren’t being imported, and are known to cause damage to the ozone layer. These reasons are why the R-22 has seen an increase in price and will continue to increase in price for the foreseeable future. And by 2020, the R-22 refrigerant will no longer be imported or produced.
Why should you care?
If you have an air conditioner that uses R-22, and there is a leak, then it will be very expensive for you to recharge your system. It will most likely become either cost-ineffective or borderline impossible to recharge an R-22 Air conditioner. Manufacturers have also begun rationing the amount of R-22 that they sell to HVAC contractors.
How can you tell the difference?
If you are trying to figure out what type of refrigerant your air conditioner uses, then pay attention to your compressor unit’s label outside. Suppose will be clearly labeled which type of refrigerant your unit uses. Be advised that the R-410A and the R-22 are both identified as HCFC-22.
R-22 vs. R-410A
Air conditioners could be manufactured to still use R-22 up until 2015.
What to do?
Hire an HVAC contractor to do a tune-up on your system if your HVAC system still uses an R-22 refrigerant. Make sure your system has no leakage, and if it does, have them repaired to help reduce future costs and prolong the life of your HVAC.
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