EPA calls for R22 controls

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants manufacturers of the ozone damaging refrigerant R22 to drop production by 45 per cent from last year’s levels.
The drop in production has sent market prices in the US skyrocketing for the coolant, which those in the business refer to as freon.

For those with leaky air conditioning units it could be costly. This comes as the EPA is considering a rule change to allow 11 to 47 per cent less of the coolant to enter the market from 2009 levels.

Earlier this year the EPA issued a proposal to regulate R22. In 2008, the price of a 30-pound drum of freon was $US55 but when the EPA tightened supply, it leaped to $185. In the past two months it has topped $385.

Charles Leahy, co-owner of Ocean Breeze Heating & Air Conditioning in the US state of Maryland, said an outdoor air conditioning unit uses about two pounds of freon per tonne. That means a two-tonne unit needs four pounds of R22.

“We were charging $33 a pound for it,” he said. “It’s probably going to be more like $50 a pound this summer. Our cost has almost doubled since last year, so obviously for customers, it’s going to double too.”

Leahy said he plans to start purchasing recovered refrigerants instead of purchasing new, because it may be more cost-effective.

He also said HVAC companies larger than his purchased a lot of R22 before the latest price hike.

“The EPA in 2010 mandated that manufacturers had to stop making air conditioning units that use R22 as a coolant because it wasn’t environmentally safe,” he said. “Air conditioners today instead use refrigerants that don’t contain chlorine.”