On January 1, 2010, they approved a ban that began a gradual phase out of the refrigerant R22. They slowly reduced the amount of R22 that could be brought into the United States as well as could be produced here. That timeline ended on January 1st, 2020 and now R22 can no longer be manufactured in the United States, now can we import it from other countries. Does that mean that I will not be able to make repairs to...
You would think that with an AC, freezing is good and will produce cold air. Unfortunately, the reality couldn’t be further from the truth. An AC works through a refined control of temperature, pressure, and airflow. If any of these things fall out of balance, the refrigerant system that creates the cold air can overclock and freeze itself, without actually making your air any colder. A frozen AC will either blow warm/cool air or nothing at all. Of course, you’re...
You’re wondering if you can mix different refrigerants for your air conditioning system. The short-long-only answer is no, never. There are many reasons why it’s impractical, illegal, and not economical for a homeowner to mix refrigerant types. CFC-type refrigerants like R-22 – the most popular in the United States by far – are a single type of refrigerant. CFC stands for chlorofluorocarbons. These refrigerants contain chlorine, fluorine, and carbon. HCFC, a “replacement” refrigerant used in place of R-22, is also made up...
As summer rolls around and temperatures begin to rise, homeowners start to focus on getting their air conditioning systems up and running. Among the common spring air conditioner maintenance tasks is topping off or replacing the refrigerant. The refrigerant used in HVAC systems manufactured before 2010 is a fluorocarbon known as R–22, or more commonly, Freon. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations began phasing out the use of R–22 refrigerant in 2010 with the goal of banning its use entirely by the year...
Summertime is upon us. That means it’s time to rely on the AC system for the summer months to make sure your house stays comfortable throughout the summer. One thing you shouldn’t do though is just turn on the AC system and go. There are a few steps to take to make certain that your AC system will work at full strength for the summer season. So what exactly are these steps? What should you do to protect your system...
If you’re like most homeowners, you want to make sure that your equipment is in tip-top shape, and this includes your air conditioner. Your air conditioner is the machine that is most responsible for your family’s comfort. If you want to keep your A/C unit up and running, you need to be sure that you are scheduling annual tune-ups. For those that live busy lives, find the time to schedule an A/C tune-up can seem impossible. However, this is a...
It is every homeowner’s worst nightmare. You’re sitting inside on a hot summer day, getting a nice reprieve from the heat thanks to your home air conditioner, when all of a sudden your AC unit stops working—and you are trapped in a sweltering, hot box. While no one ever wants to find themselves in this scenario, it is a situation that can happen to virtually anyone with an AC unit, at any time. So, when your AC unit stops working,...
There are several possible solutions to increasing the efficiency of your HVAC system and making the air distribution system work the way it was intended. As with all problems the solution isn’t always black and white and different solutions may work for different people. Unfortunately in Las Vegas the builder or their HVAC contractor does not look at the best way to run each home’s air distribution system independently. They will engineer a track home one time and will ignore...
“We are keenly aware that there is great value in having an educated consumer, which is why we have developed this page. It will hopefully help the customer to better understand the different parts of an HVAC system, why they go bad or are inefficient, and why they need to be replaced. We encourage you to be your own Best Advocate. Never be afraid to ask your technician to demonstrate for you why the part they say is bad,...
The best replacement for R-22 Freon is usually R-407c. It has a very low loss in capacity (0 – 5%) relative to R-22 and is less expensive than many other R-22 replacement refrigerants. If a system has R22 in it already you cannot use a replacement refrigerant to simply add to the R22. For one, R 22 is its own refrigerant whereas the replacement refrigerants are made up of several different kinds of refrigerant designed to mimic operating pressures/temperatures of...
