At the end of January of this year (2012) the EPA implemented a mandatory reduction in the manufacturing of R-22 refrigerant. This is what cools your home in the spring and summer months. The following day I called to get a price for R-22 and found out that it had tripled! Also many supply houses had limited the selling of R-22 to one canister per employee until they could get a handle on how much to charge. It was crazy.
What does this mean for you as the consumer? Well if you do not know what type of refrigerant is used to heat or cool your home than I would highly recommend you find out. The demand for R-22 refrigerant has sky-rocketed in a very short time and if you have R-22 in your HVAC system then you could have a hard time finding someone to repair your unit this summer. With the cut that the government has put in place, R-22 will be hard for suppliers to keep in stock if Lubbock has another summer like last year (2011.) This is bad for the consumer because R-22 systems that have refrigerant leaks cannot be recharged without the same refrigerant.
This information is not to scare you but to educate you on making an informed decision. This may be the year to upgrade your system and get away from the old refrigerant that is going away. If you would like to know what type of refrigerant is in your system or want more information, contact Sinclair Air Conditioning.