Reuben Saltzman

Does your air conditioner use R-22? Here’s why you should care.

Most air conditioners use one of two types of refrigerant: R-22 or R-410A. Here at Structure Tech, we started paying close attention to this detail during our home inspections about three years ago, because units that use R-22 have become ridiculously expensive to service. The price of this refrigerant began to skyrocket many years ago, and it hasn’t slowed down.

Note: We made it standard policy to start reporting on the type of refrigerant used with air conditioners back in 2017. While this isn’t something that’s required by home inspection standards of practice, we felt that this was an important detail to include in our reports. When we come across air conditioners using R-22, we include a comment in our reports explaining why this matters to our clients.

Why is the price of R-22 increasing?

In short, R-22 has become scarce because the US has completely phased out the production, import, and use of this refrigerant. This was done to help control the damaging effects on our ozone layer.

Head over to the EPA website for more details on the refrigerant phase-out.

Why should you care?

If your air conditioner uses R-22 refrigerant and the refrigerant leaks, it will be expensive to recharge the system. Many years ago, I had said that it’ll become cost-prohibitive to service older air conditioners still running on R-22. Today, I’d say we’re there. The cost of R-22 is so high that it’s probably no longer worthwhile to recharge systems with low refrigerant levels.

For the record, however, it’s not illegal to recharge systems that are low on R-22. This can still be legally done, it’s just expensive.

How can you tell the difference?

To know which type of refrigerant your air conditioner uses, take a look at the label on the compressor unit outside. It’ll clearly tell you which type of refrigerant the unit uses. The newer type is R-410A, and the older type that I’ve been talking about is R-22, also identified as HCFC-22. These aren’t the only two that exist, but they’re all that I’ve ever encountered.

R-22 vs R-410A

Up until 2015, air conditioners could still be manufactured to use R-22 refrigerant, and many were.

What to do?

If you have an air conditioner that uses R-22, keep your fingers crossed. Many years ago, I had made the recommendation to get your air conditioner serviced now if it uses R-22, to get it serviced while it’s still affordable. Today, I’d say we’re past that. If you have an air conditioner technician tell you that your system uses an old refrigerant that is cost-prohibitive to service, don’t worry. They’re not out to scam you. This is the truth.

For the record, adding R-410A to a system designed for R-22 is bad news. More on that topic here: http://www.supplyht.com/articles/97376-can-you-mix-r22-with-r410a. Systems using R-22 can technically be completely emptied out and recharged with a different type of refrigerant, but there’s a bunch of additional work that has to be done at the same time, which typically means that this isn’t worth the money. Your best option is usually going to be a complete replacement of systems running on R-22.

Author: Reuben SaltzmanStructure Tech Home Inspections

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3 responses to “Does your air conditioner use R-22? Here’s why you should care.”

  1. Aaron
    May 26, 2020, 9:06 am

    What’s a ballpark cost if you have to recharge an R-22 system? Are we talking $200 or $5,000? Thanks! 🙂

  2. Michael Leavitt
    May 26, 2020, 12:53 pm

    Reuben, thanks again for the very informative blog article. Your efforts are an asset to our industry. Here in Northern Utah, most heads are buried in the sand when it comes to identifying refrigerant types and alerting prospective home buyers about the issue. BTW, how are the home warranty firms dealing with this issue in your area? Are they paying for the complete system upgrade, conversion, refilling, or voiding coverage? Michael Leavitt – Orem, Utah – TheHomeInspector.com

  3. Tim Mengelkoch
    May 26, 2020, 1:50 pm

    Three years ago my 16 years old AC stopped cooling. I called the same company that installed it for me. They said that I needed R410a and that they could purge my system of R22 and put the 410 in. It cost me $300 for everything. The AC is working fine. Did I get taken?

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