Freon For Older Air Conditioners Is Being Phased Out

Written by Patrick Phillippi

Greensboro, NC - Approximately eighty percent of air conditioners across the country are going to have to replaced by 2020, and the price to simply service air conditioners with Freon is going to triple, this as a result of new emission standards from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Air conditioners five to ten years old or older use R22 Freon, which is being phased out for the new Freon, R422.

This phase out is causing the prices for R22 to skyrocket, according to Vicky Maness of Kay Heating and Air. The prices consumers will be pay this summer will be almost triple the price, Manes said,"It is definitely going to be a shock knowing what they paid last year."

The R22 Freon will no longer be produced after 2020, and because older air conditioners only use R22, they will all have to be replaced.

And with the cost of replacing an air conditioner starting at $5,000, many consumers will be faced with a hard reality.

Rodney Smith, a supplier of R22, says of the price rise, "It is like nothing I have ever seen, ever. I think the reaction from consumers is going to bordering on outrage."

As R22 Freon continues to phase out of production, the price of this freon could continue to rise, making it even more expensive to service air conditioners.

And the impact will be widespread, "Apartment complexes, homeowners, businesses, any equipment that has R22 Freon it's going to affect them right now." said Maness.