You may have heard the term “refrigerant” used in reference to your air conditioner once or twice. You may even know that refrigerant is the liquid that makes it possible for your air conditioner to cool your home in the first place.
What a lot of people don’t know is that there are different kinds of refrigerant, and that the kind of refrigerant your air conditioner uses has an effect on how it operates. Let’s go over one of the more important comparisons on this topic: r22 refrigerant vs r410.
Why it Matters
For many decades, air conditioners have used r22 refrigerant to run properly. It’s only recently that new systems have been manufactured with the more modern r410a refrigerant. There are a number of reasons for this, but they all sort of boil down to two: r22 refrigerant is less efficient and worse for the environment. An air conditioner that uses r22 refrigerant is going to be less able to cool the home properly than an air conditioner that uses r410a. It also releases more greenhouse gases, and it’s this second one that mostly prompted the government to pass certain mandates.
R22 refrigerant is no longer permitted in new air conditioners manufactured since 2010. This means that if you have had a new air conditioner installed since then, you almost certainly have r410a in it. If you have an older air conditioner, though, you have the added problem of it becoming more expensive to replace your refrigerant if the system develops a leak. You can’t just put a different kind of refrigerant in an air conditioner that isn’t designed for it, so the only way to avoid higher costs is to install a new air conditioner.
So, What Does This Mean for You?
Long story short, what this means is that if you have a new air conditioner installed in your home, you should make sure that it was manufactured after 2010. That will pretty much guarantee that you get an air conditioner that uses r410a refrigerant. If you have an older air conditioner, now would be a very good time to replace it. If your air conditioner is old enough to still be using r22 refrigerant, it’s likely pretty close to the end of its lifespan anyway. You’ll be much better off, both in terms of cost and peace of mind, if you just install a new air conditioning system now rather than wait for the system to break down completely.
Contact a technician you trust, and ask them to replace your air conditioner with a new one that is up to the refrigerant standards. That way, you can focus on things that are more important, like staying cool during the sweltering summer heat.
Comfort First Heating and Cooling, Inc. provides a full range of air conditioning installation and replacement services throughout Joliet, IL. If you need a new air conditioner installed in your home, or you have questions about the kind of refrigerant your air conditioner uses, contact us today to schedule an appointment with one of our expert technicians.