Posted on 08/30/2011 7:12:18 AM PDT by Red Badger
Eighteen months after the Obama administration came out with new rules to stop refrigerants in air conditioners from thinning the Earth's protective ozone layer, an unexpected quirk has divided the industry and could have implications for the atmosphere.
Much of the equipment being installed in American homes is still getting its cooling power from an ozone-depleting gas that was supposed to be phased out, says a group of disgruntled appliance makers, including the makers of Carrier and Trane air conditioners.
Five companies wrote a letter (pdf) to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson this week saying the agency inadvertently left a loophole in a 2009 rule to enforce the Montreal Protocol, a 1989 treaty crafted to repair the hole in the ozone layer.
The treaty requires the United States to cut its consumption of hydrochlorofluorocarbon-22, or HCFC-22, a refrigerant widely used in air conditioners for decades, by 90 percent from baseline levels by 2015 and eliminate its use entirely by 2030. That means all air conditioners will eventually need to stop using the refrigerant, also known as R-22, in favor of another gas called R-410A.
But after the rules (pdf) came out in late 2009, a few companies realized they could make the old models "dry" -- meaning the refrigerant is not included -- and market them as a lower-cost option for homeowners and businesses with broken air conditioning systems.
Despite the EPA rules, air conditioning units that need HCFC-22 now make up 10 to 20 percent of all sales, according to industry estimates. Just about everyone is making the R-22 air conditioners again and selling them dry under the pressure of market forces.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Stealth Cash-for-Clunkheads.
It's nice when the government forces people to purchase your product.
The basic assumptions I think have never truly been researched. The idea that hydrochlorofluorocarbon cause this problem seems to have been based on some very old ‘science’ and that not at all understood. Even today climate and atmospheric science is still mostly a mystery.
And the largest ozone hole is over Antarctica. The EPA hasn’t found a way to control its many volcanoes, so they are messing with our air conditioners instead.
Wonder how many bureau-rats are nesting in that regulatory swamp?
It was merely a coincidence that DuPont’s patents on Freon and all it’s derivations were running out in the 90’s. Absolutely coincidence that they just happened to have a ‘new’ and more expensive chemical, freshly patented, to ‘replace’ those old ‘dangerous’ chemicals. Amazing coincidence........................
And when it is time to have your A/C replaced, beware. You’ll have to have the new 1014 compatible unit, AND you’ll also either need to replace the existing line-set (in most locations that is the insulated tubing which runs from outside where the A/C is to the inside where the furnace is), OR have the existing line-set flushed. We opted to have ours flushed. Completely replacing an existing line-set can be very expensive. I’m sure there are several HVAC guys on FR who can do a better job of explaining this than I can, but that was the crux of it at our house.
I tried to get one, but it didn’t make sense in our house because it was barely break even and we wouldn’t get a full warranty.
Apparently though, the bigger the house or building, the more it pays off.
The new units require different condensers and duct work that can cost a company 10ks on top of just getting another air conditioner. Costs likely not included in the bill cost when this was originally voted into law.
“We have to pass the bill to know what’s in it!”
“We have to pass the bill to know what’s in it!”
First the lemonade then my guitar then my air conditioner. Sheesh...
Time for congress to pass laws requiring the EPA to do and publish human and economic impact studies for every policy before it is allowed to be implemented.
Further, any policy that has the force of law has to be approved by congress.
It is my experience that air conditioning companies do not like to do duct work particularly in old houses.
what is this crap??
When they phased out R-12 20 years ago, we were told all other forms of freon are safe. Now they say R-22 needs to go too?
horshit
They will never stop. Once R-22 is gone, they will find something else to gripe about.
Ductwork has nothing to do with the refrigerant.
and your shower heads, and light bulbs, and toilets, and ethanol gasoline, and your happy meals, and. . .?
That old "ozone hole" really came in handy.
Forget the fact that we really don't know if the "ozone hole" was always there. That doesn't matter. The important thing is we have something to demagogue so we can use it to make money.
DuPont's patent is about to run out, and other manufacturers will be able to make generic R-22.
DuPont needs their government-granted cash cow.
I stocked up on R-12 years ago and made out quite well selling it to auto repair shops when the price went stratospheric. Looks like it's time to do the same with R-22.
Congress has been trying to get out that whole nasty “responsibility” line of thinking for years now.
“We have to pass the bill to know what’s in it!”
I repeat, “Just like a stool sample!”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.