If you haven't had a quote on an air conditioner recharge lately, you're likely in for a shock. Prices on this service for older A/Cs and heat pumps have more than tripled in the past year because of the reduced R-22 refrigerant supplies available to contractors. The federal government has been phasing our R-22 refrigerant supplies because of their harmful effects on the environment and will have eliminated production of new R-22 by the year 2020. Equipment manufactured since 2010 has used a new refrigerant formula, R-410A, for which supplies are plentiful. This might make now a great time to consider an upgrade to a more efficient and better-performing cooling system.
In addition to cutting the R-22 refrigerant supplies, the government has made it mandatory that units that use R-22 must employ R-22 capture technology to prevent the refrigerant from entering the atmosphere. This cost is passed on to you, the consumer. Couple this with the reduced supply (39 million pounds this year), and 2013 may be the first time in history that the industry doesn't have enough refrigerant to meet demand.
This is one of the reasons the transition to R-410A refrigerant is well underway. Instead of continually recharging an old, leaky, inefficient system, homeowners are turning to new, energy-efficient models. Units on the market today are up to 30 percent more efficient than those made only five years ago.
If you have an older air conditioning unit and you've been thinking about getting it replaced, this is the time. You'll immediately resolve the refrigerant issue and you may be able take advantage of the federal 25C tax credit that expires at the end of this year. The $300 credit for central A/Cs and heat pumps is also good for qualifying units purchased in 2012.
To get started on that A/C unit upgrade today, contact the professionals at Hartman Brothers Heating & Air Conditioning. We've been proudly serving the greater Fort Wayne area since 1963.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in New Haven, Indiana and surrounding Fort Wayne area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about R-22 refrigerant and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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