R22 is marketed under a variety of brand names, many of which sound like supervillain science projects, such as Genetron 22 and Arcton 4. It will be most familiar to customers under the name Freon. The other manufacturer of note is Honeywell, which produces the Solstice and Genetron brands. R22 is merely one of the first HCFCs on the chopping block.
Canada followed suit with its own distinct set of regulations, also setting a goal of eliminating remaining production and import of all HCFCs by If you stick around, though, you may learn a little about why this change has major implications for the health of the planet.
When CFCs break down in the stratosphere, they release atomic chlorine. This causes destructive chain reactions in the surrounding molecules. Upon realizing that their bread-and-butter products were in danger of being outlawed, manufacturers rushed to replace CFC refrigerants with HCFCs.
These have a markedly lower impact on the ozone, as they tend to break down more completely before reaching the stratosphere. They are not, however, completely ozone-neutral. They are also a major greenhouse gas, which makes them a leading cause of man-made climate change. On top of that, R22 production also creates a byproduct called HFC The Montreal Protocol , which was agreed upon in , outlaws the use of CFCs under most circumstances.
They are expected to mitigate further ozone depletion, though they also have a high global warming potential GWP. Some organizations are moving for them to be banned as well. In the meantime, however, most if not all newly manufactured air conditioning units have already transitioned to the use of RA HFCA. You may know under it under the Honeywell brand name Puron. For owners of older R22 units who prefer to retrofit rather than replace their system, RA is an HFC replacement that behaves similarly enough to R22 to use the same metering devices.
But now that the refrigerant is no longer being widely manufactured and imported, it may soon become prohibitively expensive to run these units as the amount of supply dwindles. In , the Canadian government released a projected phase-out timeline, which you can see below:. Being proactive may save you on operation and maintenance costs in the long term.
As of , newly manufactured and imported R22 refrigerant can no longer be purchased by certified technicians for servicing older air conditioners. There are ways to recycle or reclaim R In fact, the practice was common as a way of cutting down on costs and environmental impact well before the last update to the Montreal Protocol.
It is strongly recommended by our technicians that you should only use recycled refrigerant that has been collected from your own system. Reclamation is more complex. It involves filtering, drying, distilling, and chemically treating used refrigerant to completely strip impurities. Because not all of the R22 currently in use can or will be reclaimed, the pool of available refrigerant is shrinking.
It is impossible at this time to project how this will impact the cost of R22 in the future. This is because no one actually knows how much stockpiled R22 is out there. Those companies which reclaim R22 will set their prices based on supply and demand.
There is a possibility that holdouts will find themselves competing over a scarce resource, with prices rising accordingly over the next few years. As the equipment owner, you may also notice higher costs due to increased environmental levies on the sale and import of both new and reclaimed HFCs and HCFCs.
These levy increases will allow RMC to continue collecting and disposing of refrigerant waste and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The evaporator coils needed to support your refrigerant are also costly to replace on their own.
Leaking components also need to be disposed of in a proper, safe, professional manner. At Rep-Air Heating And Cooling we provide our customers with many options that will best suit your needs from heating and cooling to refrigeration. Contact us today for your complimentary quote: or contact null repairheatingandcooling. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for free giveaways! This is the cycle that typically takes place for refrigerant.
For more information on the refrigerant phase-out, you can refer to these articles from: Canada. Most central air conditioners manufactured and installed before use R refrigerant, as was the standard at the time.
Units installed after are more likely to use RA. Starting in , R refrigerant is going to be in increasingly short supply. Your air conditioner will require a whole new line set and a new evaporator coil. You will also need to have the old components disposed of in a safe, professional manner. From a cost perspective, installing a new air conditioner is the far better choice in the long run. Still have questions about the R refrigerant phase-out?
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