R22 Refrigerant: Why It’s Time to Replace It

Bye Bye R-22!!

The time has come to replace your old refrigerant. In other words, if your air conditioner runs on R22 (or R-22) refrigerant, your time is running out!

The environmentally safer, EPA-compliant R410A refrigerant is the new standard and the R22 phase-out has begun. If your air conditioning system runs on R22 refrigerant, you will be forced to refit or replace it by 2020. And by “forced” we mean R22 refrigerant will no longer be available. That means no air conditioning company (including us) will replace your air conditioner’s R22 refrigerant, because we won’t be able to!

Freon is Gone!

R22 refrigerant is more commonly known as freon. And it was once the standard refrigerant for air conditioning systems across the country. But times have changed, and now R22 is considered obsolete. Unless you’ve been hibernating or in a coma for the last several years, you know the change to energy efficiency is taking hold across the country, and the world! Production on R-22 refrigerant or freon is projected to cease for good by December 2019. If you don’t believe it, just look it up under section 608 of the Clean Air Act, as ordered by the EPA. It’s going to be phased out completely by the end of this decade. And you need to be ready for that. So what should you do?

Call a Professional

Of course the first thing we’re going to do is shamelessly plug Super Heat & Air and tell you to call us at (813) 355-0288! But here’s what you really need to know. Now that R-22 will no longer be available, the price of whatever remains of it will significantly rise. So the closer we are to the date of its phase-out, the more expensive it will become to obtain whatever’s left of it! You don’t want to wait for that to happen. That’s because you may find yourself without air conditioning and with nobody who could help you when it’s gone. Or you can find yourself paying a stupid amount of money to get the obsolete R22 refrigerant syphoned out of old AC systems when it’s no longer produced.

Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late

Why wait? The new standard of refrigerant is now R-410A. Since 2010, new AC systems are manufactured to run on R410-A refrigerant. Not only is it more widely available and affordable than R-22, but it’s also better for the environment. And it’s considered safer for you. You might not want to get your whole AC system replaced just yet, and we understand that. So we encourage you to call us at (813) 355-0288 to discuss your options. There’s also another type of refrigerant you can ask us about called R407-C, which could be an alternative, depending on your system.

Make the Change to Energy Efficiency

We will say that new AC systems are manufactured to be a lot more energy efficient than older systems that run on R-22. So even if you do have to spring for a new AC system, you’ll get a high return on investment with a new energy-efficient model. If your system runs on R-22, it’s probably costing you more on energy bills than the price of getting a new system anyway! And we (shameless plug again) have great financing options available to suit your budget! We also encourage you to ask us about a fantastic financing option called PACE.

If your AC system is running on R-22 and you’re ready to have it retrofitted or replaced, call us today!