You Want R410-A

Chose HVAC Equipment with Eco-Friendly R410-A Refrigerant

AC Doctor also wants you to know that you have a choice in HVAC equipment regarding what type of refrigerant the system uses. We strongly urge you to install equipment that uses the eco-friendly R-410A refrigerant for two reasons:
1. R-410A is not chlorine based so it will not harm the environment in the same way that that the old refrigerant, R-22, will.
2. Laws that come into effect in 2010 (the Montreal Protocol) will eliminate the use of the old refrigerant R-22, so servicing a system that uses R-22 will be increasingly difficult and expensive.

Climate Control Legislation – The Liberman-Warner Bill

Climate control legislation is moving through Congress which you should know about as it will have a long term impact on your pocketbook. The Lieberman Warner bill appears to be the leader among all the proposed legislation as it addresses the issue of Global Warming and has bipartisan support. There are many areas of the proposal which will affect our lives and we suggest you become educated on all the different elements of the bill.

The biggest impact it would have on the HVAC products homeowners use would be:

A phase out of the ozone friendly refrigerants (such as R410-A) which the country has been moving towards over the last 20 years…yes, this includes the refrigerants in your home appliances, automobile, and your air conditioning system. While these refrigerants are Ozone friendly, they are not good for Global Warming. This bill proposes to begin phasing out the Ozone friendly refrigerants as early as 2010, the same year in which the ozone depleating refrigerant R22 will be completely prohibited in HVAC equipment. This means that servicing products that use these refrigerants will most likely become more expensive as the the cost of the refrigerants will probably rise dramatically.
The phase out of the Ozone friendly refrigerants will occur at the same time that the availability of the refrigerants which are used in 80% of the HVAC systems in service (R22)will be radically reduced. The old refrigerant R22 will be difficult and expensive to purchase.
Electricity costs will increase as the power companies will have to pay for using carbon fuels…an estimate from one source is that electricity could increase by 10% to 20% in the first year after the law goes into effect.

What does this mean for you …

Buy the highest efficiency system that your budget will permit, while the payback in financial terms may or may not make sense today, experts forecast that the cost of electricity and natural gas will continue to escalate.
Buy a system the uses the 410A refrigeration product. The availability of 410A should be acceptable during the your system’s lifespan, and this Ozone friendly refrigerant is better for the environment than the old R22.
Have your HVAC contractor examine all aspects of your HVAC system because, as you know by now, the performance and efficiency of your system depends on more than just the efficiency rating of your equipment. Use our Quality Installation Checklist to ensure you maximize your system is optimized.