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And if you accidentally just vent the refrigerant lines instead of draining then you can release a year's worth of global warming in about 20 seconds. Best not

And if you accidentally just vent the refrigerant lines instead of draining then you can release a year's worth of global warming in about 20 seconds. Best not to try.

kortilla 4y ago
> you can release a year's worth of global warming in about 20 seconds What does this mean? I know you’re not saying that it leaks that much refrigerant over a year normally.
- BongoMcCat 4y ago
  Not op, but I think it means that the cooling system contains a gas that if released (it would normally not be released at all), it would do the same amount of harm to the environment as you would normally do in a year. (I have no idea if this comparison is accurate, but I do know that coolers commonly contain gasses that you don't want to release)
- Akronymus 4y ago
  Releasing the equivalent greenhouse gases through leaking coolant in a few seconds as running the fridge in a year would produce, maybe?
- wcoenen 4y ago
  Refrigerants typically have a greenhouse effect that is thousands of times more potent than CO2. For example, the refrigerant R-410A does about 2000 more greenhouse warming over a 100 year period. So a leak of 1 kg of R-410A is equivalent to about 2 metric tons of CO2 emissions.
  - ErikCorry 4y ago
    Yes this is what I meant. 10 years ago I bought an expensive tumble drier with a heap pump in order to be nice to the environment. After a few years there was an issue with it and I called a repairman. He vented the refrigerant and refilled it as part of his repair. My calculation said it was an equivalent emission of about 1300kg CO2. Environmental impact immediately went negative. This will be an issue when everyone is heating their house with heat pumps. They are amazing, but you have to follow the rules when repairing and scrapping them.
    - Vendan 4y ago
      I'd honestly be shocked if "vented and refilled refrigerant" was legal, that sounds like something a shady repairman would do...
      - ErikCorry 4y ago
        I looked it up, it wasn't (in Denmark). He said he always does it that way. I printed out and gave him a copy of the relevant regulation. I'm sure it made all the difference...
    - Kirby64 4y ago
      Unless you're in a region where AC is not needed, you already need refrigerant in the AC system. It does add some refrigerant overall (since there's places that do not require AC, but may require heat pumps), but it's not that big a difference.
      - ErikCorry 4y ago
        Most homes in the EU don't have air con.
- inferiorhuman 4y ago
  Unlike automotive (mobile) air conditioning, the kind of refrigerators you'll find in a kitchen rarely leak as they're designed with no fittings or perishable/permeable hoses to leak. To do any sort of service you open up the sealed system which creates the possibility for deliberate or accidental leaks. But… At least in the US kitchen refrigerators have moved to hydrocarbon refrigerants (R600a a.k.a. isobutane) which have a much lower global warming potential of around 3.3x that of CO2. Prior to that it was R134a, and I'm pretty sure R410a was mostly limited to HVAC applications. More to the point a modern refrigerator has on the order of a couple ounces (so maybe 50 grams) of refrigerant not an entire kilo. Don't fuck around with the sealed system unless you've the proper training. It's not rocket science but there are any number of non-obvious ways for things to go wrong. R600a is (in)flammable, R134a decomposes into hydrogen fluoride when exposed to flame, and R410a is a blend of things so you can't really top it off. Edit: Copper fittings if you're lucky. We're starting to see some bits made out of aluminum now so (assuming you want to do the job correctly) you'll either have to get real good at brazing aluminum to copper or you'll have to invest the $$$ in the crimp tools.

And if you accidentally just vent the refrigerant lines instead of draining then you can release a year's worth of global warming in about 20 seconds. Best not to try.

kortilla 4y ago

> you can release a year's worth of global warming in about 20 seconds What does this mean? I know you’re not saying that it leaks that much refrigerant over a year normally.

BongoMcCat 4y ago
Not op, but I think it means that the cooling system contains a gas that if released (it would normally not be released at all), it would do the same amount of harm to the environment as you would normally do in a year. (I have no idea if this comparison is accurate, but I do know that coolers commonly contain gasses that you don't want to release)
Akronymus 4y ago
Releasing the equivalent greenhouse gases through leaking coolant in a few seconds as running the fridge in a year would produce, maybe?
wcoenen 4y ago
Refrigerants typically have a greenhouse effect that is thousands of times more potent than CO2. For example, the refrigerant R-410A does about 2000 more greenhouse warming over a 100 year period. So a leak of 1 kg of R-410A is equivalent to about 2 metric tons of CO2 emissions.
- ErikCorry 4y ago
  Yes this is what I meant. 10 years ago I bought an expensive tumble drier with a heap pump in order to be nice to the environment. After a few years there was an issue with it and I called a repairman. He vented the refrigerant and refilled it as part of his repair. My calculation said it was an equivalent emission of about 1300kg CO2. Environmental impact immediately went negative. This will be an issue when everyone is heating their house with heat pumps. They are amazing, but you have to follow the rules when repairing and scrapping them.
  - Vendan 4y ago
    I'd honestly be shocked if "vented and refilled refrigerant" was legal, that sounds like something a shady repairman would do...
    - ErikCorry 4y ago
      I looked it up, it wasn't (in Denmark). He said he always does it that way. I printed out and gave him a copy of the relevant regulation. I'm sure it made all the difference...
  - Kirby64 4y ago
    Unless you're in a region where AC is not needed, you already need refrigerant in the AC system. It does add some refrigerant overall (since there's places that do not require AC, but may require heat pumps), but it's not that big a difference.
    - ErikCorry 4y ago
      Most homes in the EU don't have air con.
inferiorhuman 4y ago
Unlike automotive (mobile) air conditioning, the kind of refrigerators you'll find in a kitchen rarely leak as they're designed with no fittings or perishable/permeable hoses to leak. To do any sort of service you open up the sealed system which creates the possibility for deliberate or accidental leaks. But… At least in the US kitchen refrigerators have moved to hydrocarbon refrigerants (R600a a.k.a. isobutane) which have a much lower global warming potential of around 3.3x that of CO2. Prior to that it was R134a, and I'm pretty sure R410a was mostly limited to HVAC applications. More to the point a modern refrigerator has on the order of a couple ounces (so maybe 50 grams) of refrigerant not an entire kilo. Don't fuck around with the sealed system unless you've the proper training. It's not rocket science but there are any number of non-obvious ways for things to go wrong. R600a is (in)flammable, R134a decomposes into hydrogen fluoride when exposed to flame, and R410a is a blend of things so you can't really top it off. Edit: Copper fittings if you're lucky. We're starting to see some bits made out of aluminum now so (assuming you want to do the job correctly) you'll either have to get real good at brazing aluminum to copper or you'll have to invest the $$$ in the crimp tools.