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I’ve heard of this in the past. Usually the shop will sell to you without a license if you’re affiliated with an HVAC company, because you might be some unlicen

I’ve heard of this in the past. Usually the shop will sell to you without a license if you’re affiliated with an HVAC company, because you might be some unlicensed peon picking up parts for the installer or technician down the road. But they often have no way to verify whether you’re a HVAC person for things that don’t require a license vs some clued in homeowner, so you can give them a made up LLC name and say you want a cash account. It takes a fair bit of confidence to pull this off though. Easier and cheaper to order off of Amazon usually anyway FWIW there are some things that DO require licensing. Purchasing refrigerant requires an EPA number. Almost no shop will sell you full on ready to install systems without a contractors license. But off the shelf components like this don’t require one and they have unlicensed helpers coming in all the time buying stuff, so confidently pretending you’re one of those is usually enough in a pinch.

Suppafly 2y ago
> Purchasing refrigerant requires an EPA number. Why can I buy as many cans of it that I want for my car then? Is the stuff used in house systems that different?
- teslabox 2y ago
  I had some more R134a added to my car recently. The mechanic said when he had his shop, he would have completely evacuated the system to measure how many ounces of refrigerant were still in the system. He also said the old R12 systems were less leaky than R134a. R12 was phased out because of the ozone layer. I think refrigerator and AC repair companies are required to capture and recycle the refrigerant - they don’t seem to have the equipment to capture and measure refrigerant like auto mechanics. R22 (phased out refrigerant for home AC) has chlorine in it, while R134a doesn’t have chlorine, making it easier on the ozone layer. R134a is being replaced with R1234yf. The best refrigerant is CO2, but this has the greatest tendency to leak.
  - Suppafly 2y ago
    >I think refrigerator and AC repair companies are required to capture and recycle the refrigerant - they don’t seem to have the equipment to capture and measure refrigerant like auto mechanics. I'm pretty sure they capture it and then sell it back to you while making you think that that isn't what's happening.

Suppafly 2y ago

> Purchasing refrigerant requires an EPA number. Why can I buy as many cans of it that I want for my car then? Is the stuff used in house systems that different?

teslabox 2y ago
I had some more R134a added to my car recently. The mechanic said when he had his shop, he would have completely evacuated the system to measure how many ounces of refrigerant were still in the system. He also said the old R12 systems were less leaky than R134a. R12 was phased out because of the ozone layer. I think refrigerator and AC repair companies are required to capture and recycle the refrigerant - they don’t seem to have the equipment to capture and measure refrigerant like auto mechanics. R22 (phased out refrigerant for home AC) has chlorine in it, while R134a doesn’t have chlorine, making it easier on the ozone layer. R134a is being replaced with R1234yf. The best refrigerant is CO2, but this has the greatest tendency to leak.
- Suppafly 2y ago
  >I think refrigerator and AC repair companies are required to capture and recycle the refrigerant - they don’t seem to have the equipment to capture and measure refrigerant like auto mechanics. I'm pretty sure they capture it and then sell it back to you while making you think that that isn't what's happening.