The United States is phasing out R-22 under the U.S. Clean Air Act. Unfortunately this is a gas that has lead to the depletion of our ozone layer. Currently, there is very little R-22 available to anyone including contractors. This will cause repairs on systems containing R-22 to skyrocket if anyone can even get their hands on the required parts for repairs. It’s possible to retrofit the system to handle new non-ozone depleting gases. While it’s possible, we don’t recommend it. If your system uses R-22, it’s probably really old. It would be more cost efficient to go ahead an upgrade your system all together.
In case you’re unaware of what R-22 does, it’s the gas within the system that makes the air coming into your home get cold. Without it, you’d just be circulating the air through your home like a giant fan.The alternatives do the same thing. The reason is has become a problem is because in earlier days, no one knew the effects the gas was having on our ozone. There were no stipulations on what to do with the gas when replacing systems. Due to this lack of knowledge, the gas was let out into the air. Now there are pumps to recover the refrigerant. Letting R-22 out into the open air is actually illegal at this point.
Here are the R-22 replacements and their GWP ratings:
These alternatives are already available. Systems that were made to run on R-22 cannot simply take the alternatives without retrofitting. If you’d like more information on retrofitting or replacement all together, call 770-672-6963 or visit our website.
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