The 1987 Montreal Protocol phased down the other refrigerants called chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons that were burning a hole in the ozone layer, exposing people to more cancer-causing ultraviolet radiation from the sun. This isn’t the first time that industry has had to make a change because of environmental and health concerns with refrigerants. This isn’t the first time that industry has had to make a change “When this transition occurs, it is going to be seamless for consumers.” And there’s no reason for people to know that because the only thing they really need to know is that their equipment is as efficient as it is advertised to be, and that it is reliable,” Dietz says. “If you were to ask somebody off the street right now what refrigerant is used in their air conditioner, 99.99999% would not be able to tell you. Dietz doesn’t anticipate any noticeable change in price, either. When people purchase new equipment that uses different refrigerants, those units will pretty much look and operate the same way as older units. There’s a chance that the cost of HFCs might rise slightly because of the more limited supply, but previous transitions to new refrigerants haven’t increased prices much in the past, Dietz says.
Companies also recycle HFCs from decommissioned units, which adds to the supply. The new rule calls for HFC production and imports to be cut by 85 percent, which means there will still be enough of the refrigerants left to service old equipment. Refrigerants generally only need to be replaced if there’s a leak - it’s not a frequent part of regular maintenance. That’s just not the case,” says Francis Dietz, vice president of public affairs for the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), a trade association. “There’s a sort of a misconception out there that is unfortunately fueled by some unscrupulous contractors that you have to change out because these refrigerants are being phased down.
While industry is ramping down the use of HFCs, there’s really nothing different that consumers will need to do with air conditioning units or refrigerators they already have. There’s really nothing different that consumers will need to do