Posted on 05/20/2022 8:26:20 AM PDT by Kaslin
It’s the scariest moment of the year for many homeowners – that first really hot day, usually in May, when we turn on our air conditioners for the first time since the previous summer and cross our fingers that it still works.
If not, it will need to be repaired or possibly replaced, and the 2022 air conditioning season is shaping up to be a very expensive one thanks to environmental regulations. Meanwhile, the Senate is busy considering a United Nations climate treaty called the Kigali Amendment that would make things worse.
The news is bad whether your air conditioner is old or new. Most pre-2010 units were designed to use a refrigerant called R-22 that isn’t made anymore – the Environmental Protection Agency banned further production in 2020 over its contribution to depleting the earth’s ozone layer. Those needing to replace R-22 lost from a leak will have to pay hundreds more for this common repair.
More than half the systems are newer ones using a refrigerant called R-410A. Though initially hailed as an ozone-friendly improvement over R-22 (it was even trademarked "Puron"), R-410A subsequently came under attack as a contributor to climate change. In December 2020, Congress slipped production caps on it and similar refrigerants into a big must-pass spending package. EPA launched its rationing program on January 1st of this year, and the wholesale price of R-410A has already jumped 4-fold over pre-regulation levels to around $20 per pound and at least twice that retail. Systems typically need eight to 15 pounds.
Thus, 2022 will be the first summer where virtually every one of the nation’s 100 million residential central air conditioners relies on a refrigerant in short supply, thanks to federal environmental measures.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS FIRST.
A trial period of three summers ought to be enough to try this out before they inflict it on the rest of us.
Friend of mine has a commercial bldg dating from the mid-late 70’s with an A/C unit that uses R-22 about the size of a small bus. He found that the system which works fine has a pinhole leak and thus needs a recharge of R-22. He’s looking at well over $100K to replace his A/C. Let’s not even talk about the lead time to get such a unit and how much rent concession/moving costs he might have to pay his tenants should he determine a replacement unit might take 3-4 moths to be delivered. As we move into summer and 90ish degree days here in CA. Scary.
The left scream about global warming, and accuse global warming g of killing people due to heat, and now they wanna ban air conditioning which keeps people alive on the hottest days?
The only thing consistent about liberals is their lunacy
My 10 year old AC in Florida was starting to leak Freon. What used to cost me ~$200 for a top-up was now $900! Went ahead and got the replacement done. AC company quoted me $11K for replacement. I signed the deal, and when they came to replace was told they used last years pricing by accident. I should have been charged $15.5K, but they signed the contract and were going to honor it. They also said units are getting hard to find, so everyone close to replacement time really needs to start looking now.
Beware. It’s a 2.5lb tank. Read the details. Title of sale is intentionally misleading.
Ahh, missed the fine print
Looks like full, factory sealed 25 lb tanks are closer to $600 - ouch
What would DC do if it wasn’t at war with the American people and all that is good? Be 1/10 the size and cost.
These D33p St@te basterds leave no stone unturned.
Congress will exempt themselves, just you watch.
It's a life saving necessity. I live on The Jersey Shore.
Admittedly summer's here aren't what they are in the South or Southwest but a summer day here in NJ can average 95 degrees with humidity levels of any where from 40 to 80%.
You FReeprs who live down south know what humidity is.
If you're not familiar with humidity, humidity is sitting with thermal underwear on, wrapped in a fur coat while sitting in a steam bath. Two or three days of that can make a person irritable and short tempered. You ain;t taking my AC you liberal bastards.
My house is about 3900 sq ft. It is well insulated. That said, Idaho weather pushes the extremes. We switched from heat to air conditioning last weekend as the inside house temperature hit 84 degrees. My very furry pups are dressed for subfreezing temps. Upstairs target temp is 76F. Last night, the weather turned. Subfreezing again. By morning when my wife arrived home from her night shift, the house interior was at 68F. The thermostat is a bit stupid. It has heating or cooling mode. It was in cooling mode, thus off all night. The wide night/day temperate swings make it difficult to keep the interior at a pleasant temperature. There are a few "sweet spot" weeks where neither heat nor cooling are necessary. That was most of the time in San Diego. Very different environments.
You could not do that in the Big Valley.
106deg air from a fan would just dry you out faster.
In the olden days people had to stay wet all day...near the river or lake.
And most definitely in the shade.
Evaporative coolers are economical in low humidity, high heat applications. They don't work well in high humidity locations like Florida. A real air conditioner that draws out the moisture at the evaporator installed in the air plenum. A real air conditioner works fine in low humidity/high heat as well.
My location in southeast Idaho is high desert. Very low humidity/dew points. That is one of the key reasons I relocated. Even San Diego was too humid for my comfort.
“but a summer day here in NJ can average 95 degrees with humidity levels of any where from 40 to 80%.”
Far, far worse than the Big Valley, which is notorious for hot summers. In fact people die every year from it.
A really hot day for us is 107deg with 12% humidity.
Propane makes a fine refrigerant, and there is no shortage of that.
This what living under Communist rule will be like. Anyone who escaped Communism will tell you that. Outages, shortages economic catastrophe are all the norm. The Marxist people in DC want to RULE not serve.
Sounds like getting brand new window air units would be less costly than just simple repairs due to these regulations.
AC in DC was the downfall of the country. Before the 30s DC was a ghost town in the summers. DC is in what would be a hot, humid, fetid, swamp without air conditioning.
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