Dry charge, loopholes, refrigerants, cooling costs and you!

Submitted by DonHester on Sat, 09/06/2014 - 06:16.

Dry charge, loopholes, refrigerants, cooling costs and you! Wenatchee Home Inspection

If you live in a part of the country that air conditioning is part of your life you should have some information when it come to servicing and replacing Air Conditioners (AC’s) and Heat Pumps.

So one of the items I look at when evaluating HVAC systems during a home inspection is what type of refrigerant is in these systems. As of 2010 all new AC’s and Heat Pumps should be using the newer non-ozone depleting refrigerants, such a R-410A. R- 22 has been the standard for quite some time and is typically what you will see in older units.

Back in 1987 there was an international agreement called the Montreal Protocol. This agreement requires a worldwide phaseout of ozone-depleting CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) which R-22 is one. So by 2020 R-22 will not be produced anymore and the only available materials will be recycled and reclaimed materials.

Per the Montreal Protocol by 2010 the U.S. is required to reduce its consumption of HCFCs by 75%. This means that new equipment can not use Virgin R-22, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) manufacturers can not produce new air conditioners and heat pumps using R-22. Another benefit for the switch is that the newer refrigerant (R-410A) is more energy efficient. But since the R-410A refrigerant has higher working pressures than the older R-22, these older systems cannot be filled with this refrigerant so replacement of the both coils are required. At this point it really make sense to install a whole new system with will have all new components.

Dry Charged Heat Pump

But wait... there is a loophole, called “Dry Charging”. While R-22 cannot be installed in new units at the factory some companies will manufacture a new unit with no refrigerant in it. Since the manufacturers is not putting in any refrigerant in they are not breaking the law. But they are breaking the intent. So in these “Dry-Charged” units the field technician will install the refrigerant (R-22). See how that works!

Why all of this? Because it is initially cheaper to the homeowner to replace just the exterior unit, but that initial lower cost will have some downstream cost. One as the R-22 becomes more restricted the cost will go up.

A typical residential air conditioning unit can hold anywhere from 5 to 15 pounds of R22. Now lets say you are pay $50 a pound, you can do the math on what the true cost to the new unit is. And future servicing will get much more expensive.

Also think about this, you just replaced the exterior coil, what about the rest of the system? It is all getting older and and will need more servicing. Another little tidbit is that dry charged units typically offer much shorter warranty periods.

In February of 2011 Carrier actually tried to petition the EPA to remove this loophole but they did not succeed.

So what is the biggest reason for replacing these units? It is from compressor failure. But this is where things get a little more complicated. When a compressor burns out it spreads highly acidic burned oils throughout the system. Now if the installer does not properly clean and flush the system, these acidic oils and other contaminates will circulate throughout the system and immediately begin to damage new components.

Dry Charged AC label

So while it sounded appealing and cost effective in the first place it really is not as good of deal as you think. It has been my experience when this type of replacement is performed that the installation is not performed all that well. People are looking for a cheap installation and that is exactly what they get.

I recommend investing that money into a new system, it may sound more expensive at first but most likely will save you money and aggravation in the long haul.

Additional information on R-22 and Dry Charging-

http://www.epa.gov/ozone/title6/phaseout/22phaseout.html

http://contractingbusiness.com/archive/carrier-petitions-epa-close-r-22-loophole

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NCW Home Inspections, LLC is a Licensed Washington State Home Inspection service located in Wenatchee Washington serving Chelan County, Douglas County, Kittitas County, Okanogan County and Grant County Washington and the cities of Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Cashmere, Oroville, Cle Elum, East Wenatchee, Quincy and many more…

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Dry charge, loopholes, refrigerants, cooling costs and you!