A few years ago, refrigerant R-22 was actually designated as the “environmentally safe” refrigerant and was scheduled to be used until 2035. But now the EPA has accelerated the R-22 phaseout. R410A is now the “environmentally safe” refrigerant. But R-22 is still in use, and can still be purchased. In fact, you can buy dry-charged R-22 equipment. So which one should you choose? There is no one answer, but there is a clear choice. Depending on your situation, here are the answers you need:

IF YOU ARE PUTTING IN AN ENTIRELY NEW SYSTEM, choose R-410A, no question. There is no cost penalty, and R-410A is going to be available for a long time.

IF YOU ARE REPLACING JUST YOUR NEWER OUTDOOR CONDENSING UNIT, and your R-22 system is less than 10 years old, consider buying a “dry R-22 unit”. It has no R-22 refrigerant in it, but you can use the refrigerant from the old system to recharge the new system. This will allow you to reuse your old evaporator, saving you approximately $1,000 dollars on the job.

IF YOU ARE COMPLETELY REPLACING YOUR OLD A/C system (over 10 years old), you will need to replace both the indoor evaporator and outdoor condenser, and you should just go with a new R410A system. You will have a completely new system, and you should just go with the newest refrigerant, which is R-410A, and should be available as long as you will ever need it. If you have further questions on this, email me at:max@aircontrolspokane.com or call (509) 924-0018.