You may or may not have heard that Freon (known as R-22) will become illegal in the United States beginning January 1, 2020. R-22 is being banned due to the impact on the Earth’s Ozone and being replaced by a more environmentally friendly R-410A (Puron).  

This picture is on the side of my condenser with HCFC-22 means it is R-22—unfortunately. Another way you can tell is if your unit was manufactured before 1996, you probably use R-22 and between 1996-2009 you could use either R-22 or the good R-410A which was required on new systems after 2010.

Do not try to run to Lowe’s and stock up on R-22 as they are not allowed to sell it or is anyone else without a license at this point. So, what can we do?

If you have a newer system that uses R-22 continue using it but just know that a leak down the road the cost is going to skyrocket to recharge it.

Retrofit your current condenser to use existing refrigerant but no HVAC company is recommending that as all warranties are off.

Replace your system proactively.

 

I think I will take my chances and hope mine holds out for a while.

Christy BerrySeptember 10, 2019