Just had the air conditioner serviced, probably it's first time since it had been installed back in 2009 by the prior owners.
It was down a couple pounds of refrigerant and being a 2009 unit that refrigerant was freon.
Thanks to the enviros and the Montreal protocol, freon is being phrased out and will be totally banned by 2020. Of course what happens when you ban a substance and produce less than is needed for the demand? The price goes up.
A pound is a tad over $100 a pound now and we needed two pounds.
The price is expected to shoot up this summer as people start using their air conditioners so if you have a 2009 or earlier AC you may want to get it serviced now, and if you need more than a few pounds you may need to replace the unit as the cost of freon makes it economically more sensible to replace a working unit completely as after 2020 there will be no more freon to be had.
If you have an A/C unit that was made in 2010 or later you won't have this problem, at least until they decide the replacement refrigerant needs to be banned as well.
3 comments:
Freon is not free? Oh, the horror.
Our unit was installed in the mid-70s. I am not looking forward to the day when we replace it.
TANSTAFF, doncha know? Free was not expected, but over $100 a pound and rising apparently above that quite dramatically this summer is not happy-making.
Was it not worth doing a direct replacement of the refrigerant?
Both R-12 and R-22 have replacements.
Both require a total pump down and exchange of refrigerants.
But the newer replacements do not require changing out of the oil.
Post a Comment