• R22 also known as freon is a refrigerant used in both air conditioners and heat pumps to provide cooling function.
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned the production and importation of R22 refrigerant starting in 2020 & beyond because of freon’s particularly harmful impact on the ozone layer when released into the air.
• CFC’s such as R22 are a main contributor to ozone layer depletion.

“Freon” is also used as a generic word for refrigerant, but it’s real meaning is the R22 Refrigerant variant.

If your system is functioning normally, you’re good to use it until it gives out.

However, if your system has leaked or there’s low/no refrigerant in the system, it cannot be legally recharged unless:

• Full leak check is performed
• All leaks are verifiably sealed

As there’s more than 400 copper pipes in an indoor coil & a similar number in an outdoor AC unit, a real leak checks take a long time & therefore are very expensive to do.

More importantly, most leak detection systems cannot determine “micro” leaks, which are typical as the unit ages.

Therefore, in most cases, it is cost prohibitive to leak check & seal all holes in an old, aging system.

If your unit is low on refrigerant, it means it’s leaky.

• If a leaky unit is recharged, it’ll escape again (unless you go through an expensive leak check process on an aging unit)
• The recharge (which is expensive as R22 is banned from importation) will be useless
• Chemical Sealants do not work & may only extend the inevitable escape
• You, as the customer will be unsatisfied because you paid a large sum for basically air.

We do not recharge R22 systems for this reason.

If a contractor has an EPA license (which is required by Federal Law when handling refrigerant), the EPA specifies that to recharge an R22 system, the unit has to be void of any leaks.

Handymen & unlicensed companies ignore the fact that It is against Federal Law to recharge a leaky system with R22.

Beyond legality, recharging R22 in a leaky system is directly causing damage to the Earth because refrigerant will escape in a leaky system. Our planet is struggling with an uncertain faith & CFCs such as R22 are one of the significant reasons why.

Yes, extensive research shows that CFC’s such as R22 Freon harm the ozone layer significantly when released into the air.

R410 has been chosen as an inert refrigerant to replace R22.

Typically, R22 systems are over 10-20 years old & while some can be converted to R410, we do not recommend this route.

The best way for peace of mind, durability & no extra future costs is full replacement with a native R410 refrigerant system.

Depends. Costs to replace an R22 system with R410 can range from as low as $2,500 to $10,000+

Factors that affect pricing such as ease of installation, unit placement, unit efficiency & other factors vary widely between individual properties.

We offer free estimates to provide exact pricing on durable & reliable HVAC Equipment.