My Old Air Conditioner Still Uses R-22 Refrigerant – Should I Replace It?

You may have heard about the refrigerant inside of your air conditioner called R-22. It works to keep your Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, home cool. Did you know that the Environmental Protection Agency phased out R-22 in 2010 because it depletes the ozone layer? Beginning in January 2020, it’ll become illegal for companies to manufacture or import R-22. How will this affect you and your air conditioner?

You Won’t Be Able to Recharge Your AC System

Over time, leaks in the refrigerant lines may develop. As the refrigerant levels drop, the efficiency of the air conditioner diminishes. If during regular maintenance, our service technicians spot a leak, they’ll fix it and refill or recharge the system with the R-22 refrigerant. However, once it becomes illegal to import or manufacture, R-22 will no longer be available. As a result, you won’t be able to recharge your AC system.

Your Old Air Conditioner Won’t Cool Effectively

Refrigerant is crucial to keeping your home cool. It’s essential that the levels don’t drop due to leaks. If the refrigerant levels are low, there’s not enough of it to absorb the heat from inside of your home. You may find that your home isn’t feeling cool enough to keep your family comfortable.

What Are My Options?

You can continue to limp along as long as possible with your older system, invest in an expensive upgrade to the existing system, or have a new AC system installed that uses the new refrigerant. It’s better to be proactive as soon as possible about replacing your old air conditioner with a newer model that uses a more environmentally friendly cooling refrigerant called R-410A. Instead of pouring money into expensive repairs or not being able to recharge your AC system, save money and purchase a new system. As a result, you’ll gain peace of mind and help the environment.

Give North Beach Services Heating and Cooling a call today at (252) 429-5325 to discuss replacing your air conditioner. We’re standing by to make the transition from R-22 to R-410A as easy as possible.

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