The conversion of air-conditioning equipment from R-22 refrigerant to R-410A refrigerant has created new costs for apartment owners as they replace equipment and purchase supplies for the new units. But the new units also will create further headaches if they are not properly serviced and maintained.
In “R-410A Info for Execs,” a session presented at the 2010 NAA Education Conference & Exposition in June, Paul Rhodes, Supervisor and Lead Instructor for Customer Training at HD Supply Facilities Maintenance, conveyed one central message: No matter what approach apartment maintenance technicians use during this transition, proper service procedures must be followed.
“Technicians must break bad repair habits, learn proper techniques and invest greater time and attention to improving their skills when it comes to maintaining their HVAC systems,” Rhodes said.
He presented a few startling statistics, saying that when asked in training classes how long HVAC units should last, technicians today are thrilled if a newly installed condensing unit (whether R-22- or R-410A-compatible) remains operable for six years. This should concern owners, Rhodes said, considering that manufacturers suggest a unit’s lifespan should be roughly 20 years. The difference in predicted and actual life span is the result of poor and inaccurate installation and maintenance, he said.
“Too many times technicians are trained through the IWS system,” Rhodes said. “That is: I Watched Somebody.”
Costs and Considerations
Paramount on owners’ minds is cost. Rhodes said fewer and fewer new R-22-compatible systems are available as the HVAC industry shifts toward R-410A. That shift presents owners with added costs, he said, because R-410A systems are more expensive and because switching to an R-410A system often requires further costs to replace parts of the building or structure. He estimated that the cost of maintaining and supplying an R-410A system is roughly 15 percent to 20 percent higher than with R-22 systems.
On the other hand, Rhodes noted, manufacturers are still producing parts for R-22 systems, so those systems can be preserved with the proper maintenance.
Many of the “new” costs with R-410A refrigerant aren’t really new; they actually involve processes that technicians should already be doing, Rhodes said.
Whereas R-22 systems are “forgiving,” R-410A systems are much less tolerant of maintenance shortcuts, he said, so owners should urge maintenance technicians to follow proper HVAC maintenance practices and allow them the time and resources to do so.
For example, technicians may think they can save costs by mixing refrigerants or using so-called substitute refrigerants, but Rhodes cautioned against those tactics. “No substitutes have been approved by any manufacturers,” he said. Any use of substitutes also must follow proper charging and recovery techniques.
One tip Rhodes offered to help simplify the process is for communities to apply rose-colored stickers or rose spray paint to systems or lines that are using R-410A refrigerant. This technique helps to distinguish those systems from R-22 systems and prevent potential inadvertent mixing of the refrigerants. –NAA’s Paul R. Bergeron III
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A recording of Rhodes’ session, along with all sessions presented at the 2010 NAA Education Conference & Exposition, is available at www.prolibraries.com/naa/.
A New Option: Dry R-22
Manufacturers recently began producing “dry” condensing units designed to work with R-22 systems. These units can be legally produced and installed because they contain dry nitrogen instead of R-22 refrigerant. Technicians simply fill the units with R-22 during installation.