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A practical problem with heat pumps is that they keep changing the damn refrigerants. I've got an old heat pump and the refrigerant it used, R-22, stopped bein
by tzs 3y ago
A practical problem with heat pumps is that they keep changing the damn refrigerants.
I've got an old heat pump and the refrigerant it used, R-22, stopped being using new systems about 10 years ago, and production was banned a few years ago. It is still legal to sell existing stock and to use it in existing units, but the price has skyrocketed.
I'd like to replace it, but the refrigerant that replaced R-22, R-410a, is now being phased out. Manufacture and import was banned starting this year. It is being replaced with R-454b. Systems cannot be retrofitted to use R-454b, so getting an R-410a system means getting a system with an already doomed refrigerant.
If I buy a new system in the next year or so, when R-454b systems become available, is that a refrigerant that should remain available new for the lifetime of the unit, or is it too going to get banned in 10 years?
- Kirby64 3y agoR22 was banned from new HVAC units in 2010, and was only banned from import in 2020. R410a isnt even banned from new HVAC until 2025, and they've stated they'll permit importing until 2037 for maintenance purposes. Seems pretty straightforward that you can easily/cheaply service the unit for at least 10 years, then after that you're going to need to potentially pay a lot more.... which seems entirely reasonable, given that the service that requires lots of additional refrigerant is exactly the problem the EPA is trying to solve: refrigerants leaking into the atmosphere. Honestly, I'd be much more worried about being able to find parts for the complicated heat pump systems (electronics, mostly) 10+ years down the road than I would about being able to find refrigerant.
- wkat4242 3y agoYou can't keep getting consumers to buy new equipment though. It should be lifetime approved. The same way old cars don't have to meet new environmental standards.
- Kirby64 3y agoIt is, though. You're free to continue using an HVAC system with R22 today. You can even refill it with R22, albeit at the expensive price of current R22. This actually just like a car. At some point maintenance cost exceeds the value of the car and it is no longer feasible to continue keeping it. So you scrap it, or sell it to someone else. If you're frequently refilling an old HVAC (R22 or otherwise) it means that it has a leak. And that's precisely the thing that the EPA wants people to not do, since it's damaging to the environment. HVAC units should never leak, ever, if they are working properly.
- rad_gruchalski 3y agoLifetime approved heat pump? They have a lifetime of 15 to 20 years.