Refrigerants have played a pivotal role in our comfort for decades and will continue to do so in the future. However, refrigerants have a history of negatively impacting the environment, such as R-22, a Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) that contributes to ozone depletion, and current refrigerants like R-410A, a Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC), which is considered a major greenhouse gas.
As a part of good environmental stewardship and new regulations under the American Innovation & Manufacturing (AIM) Act’s Technology Transition Program, R-410A and R-134A will be phased out of our manufacturing by 2025, and the installation of such units will cease by 2026.
With these changes we are switching from R-410A to R-454B and R-134A to R-513A. These new, more eco-friendly refrigerants comply with the new regulations set by AIM and the EPA, which cover not only the environmental impact but also the safety of refrigerants.
The new refrigerants have similar properties and performance to the current refrigerants. Since R-454B falls into the slightly flammable category of refrigerants (A2L), newer and stricter safety standards and regulations have been developed for these new refrigerants to minimize risks and increase the overall safety in the use of A2L refrigerants.
