Because of R-11/12 Freon’s high GWP of 10,200 it was phased out of production by 1995 and replaced by refrigerants such as R-22 which has a 100-year GWP of 1,810 – better but not good enough. Replacements refrigerants for R-22 in home and office AC systems such as R-410A (ODP=0 GWP = 2,090) were developed but they too have unacceptable levels of global warming gases and will not be permitted to be manufactured by 2030 in California with the rest of
the USA to follow.
Manufacturing phase-out timelines such as these are being implemented in Europe, Canada, and other countries, which permanently changes the global refrigerant market.
New laws and regulations established production end dates on refrigerant gases.
In September 2022, Senate Bill 1206 “Hydro fluorocarbon gases: sale or distribution” curtailed the manufacture of many common refrigerant gas types. The phase out schedule and [GWP] includes:
• Refrigerant greater than 2,200 GWP starting in 2025 (R-404A [3,922], R-507 [3,985]
• Refrigerant greater than 1,500 GWP starting in 2030 (R-410A [2,088]
• Refrigerant greater than 750 GWP starting in 2033 (R-134A [1,430], R-448A [1,273], R-449A [1,397]
Why is this important to California homeowners and associations?
Many, if not most, older (pre-2010) installed air conditioners (AC) in California have the R-22 Freon refrigerant. Some may still contain older Freon R-12 CFC gas. R-22 AC systems have not been manufactured in the USA since 2010 and production of the R-22 gas has been illegal since 2020. Its use will be completely phased out when reclaimed, cleaned, and recycled R-22 refrigerant becomes unavailable or prohibitively expensive.
The only way to know what refrigerant is required in an AC system is to check the label on the compressor of the AC unit. The only way to safely charge or re-charge a Freon R-22 system is with captured and cleaned R-22 from failing or obsolete systems. Unscrupulous HVAC technicians may suggest using R-22a as a replacement for R-22 but, R-22a is a prohibited, highly flammable, and an unapproved dangerous replacement for R-22 in home systems. While R-410A permits higher energy efficiency in air conditioner systems, 401A’s higher gas pressure requirement makes it not a suitable replacement gas for an R-22 system.
If mechanical components of an R-22 AC system fail and a new AC system must be installed, an R-410A Genetron/
Puron refrigerant-based system may be what an HVAC vendor will install today. The downside of R-410A refrigerant is that it will no longer be manufactured after January 1, 2030. Associations expecting 10, 15, or 20 years of life out of a new AC system may have to replace the new system with an even newer refrigerant gas AC system if repair parts and recycled R-410A refrigerant were to become unavailable or unaffordable after 2029.
Now, it gets complicated. For both associations and their members,
conducting
research and carefully selecting a new system that has the potential to be serviceable for the next 15 to 20 years is critical. This is even more important where an association owns the residential unit AC systems and is responsible for life cycle maintenance, sustainment, and replacement. Funds would have to be available in the reserve account to enable replacing every existing R-22 and R-410A system with a new refrigerant such as R-454B Opteon XL41/Puron Advance in as little as seven years. Selecting a system using a refrigerant being phased out in less than 10 years is not a good return on anyone’s investment.
Compounding matters for replacing failing AC systems is that mechanical elements, system operating pressure, and lubrication requirements differ for each refrigerant gas. Because of the refrigerant’s chemical properties, the gas pressure required for the system to operate efficiently and effectively drives the size and type of compressor, condenser, evaporator, lubricants, evaporator valve, refrigerant lines, etc. There is no guaranteed ability to put a new gas type in an old system unless the mechanical system and plumbing are certified for that new refrigerant. Worse yet is that some promising gas pressure requirements significantly increase replacement costs and require replacement of all tubing between the outdoor condenser and indoor evaporator components. In this case, the old lines cannot be reused in a system swap out thus driving replacement costs towards unaffordability in some buildings.
Lastly, the California Air Resources Board State Implementation Plan of September 2022 prohibits the purchase of natural gas heaters for replacement of failed systems after January 1, 2030. Are your associations and members looking at using a heat pump to solve both AC cooling and living space heating with a new R-454B (Opteon XL41/Puron Advance) based refrigerant system? Switching to a heat pump could save associations and members money by moving to one system for heating and cooling. It’s worth taking time to do research now instead of waiting for a gas heater to fail to determine what replacement system should be used.
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