The conversion from R22 refrigerant to R410A refrigerant has created some interesting and perhaps costly implications for apartment owners in terms of replacement, maintenance, regulation and supply cost. And now, they must be concerned with possible pending regulations.
In “R-410A Info for Execs” presented yesterday by Paul Rhodes, HD Supply Facilities Maintenance, attendees learned that just this week Capitol Hill was strongly considering pushing the SEER requirement from the recently instituted SEER 13 to SEER 15. SEER 15 systems require different, bigger footprints.
“The oil spill has a lot of lawmakers thinking environmentally,” Rhodes said. “That means the likelihood of this passing is now greater. It got through the House a while ago, but thankfully died there. But now, once again, this change is something we as an industry has to keep our eyes on.”
Rhodes spent most of the session laying out supply/demand and expense trends for refrigerant. He said fewer and fewer R22 compatible systems are available, but with proper maintenance, these systems can be preserved.
But the shift is on to R410A, which comes in a pink-colored canister, and Rhodes said technicians must break their bad repair habits, learn proper techniques and invest greater time and attention when it comes tending to HVAC systems.
Roughly speaking, Rhodes estimated cost increases of 15 percent to 20 percent for the transition to R410A.
He presented a few startling statistics, such as that technicians today are thrilled if they can extend an HVAC unit’s life to six years. This, Rhodes said, should be concerning to owners, when considering that the manufacturers suggest a units’ lifespan to be roughly 20 years. He said the shortfall is due to poor and inaccurate maintenance.
“Too many times technicians are trained through the IWS system…that is: I Watched Somebody,” Rhodes said.
He said that many of the “new” costs with R410A refrigerant aren’t really new, because they involve processes that technicians should already be doing. But if they aren’t doing them, owners must be aware.
He also cautioned against technicians mixing the refrigerants and also advised against using such substitute refrigerants that are available. “No substitutes have been approved by any manufacturers,” he said.
One tip Rhodes offered is that communities apply pink stickers or pink spray paint to systems or lines that are using R410A to help differentiate them from R22 systems, which look very similar.
“The budgeting numbers and the timetable that the session provided will help a lot,” said Jim Dormady, Maintenance Director, Dolben Company, Woburn, Mass.
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