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 ...
Comes to $60 per pound. Still expensive.
“Propane makes a fine refrigerant, and there is no shortage of that.”
Yes it does as it’s boiling point is -47 F. Just gotta use the correct lubricant.
Yeah but like with the vaccine it would be much worse under Trump. </s>
When I was a kid the local funeral home furnished air conditioners for all who attended the funeral. Hand powered but effective.
“If you were to put a flame to the old r12 you would end up with mustard gas.”
Uh.... don’t think so. Try again.
Guess we will have to go back to propane, not real good but better than nothing.
Oh my yes a pound of propane will blow up your entire house, well in movies it might but no and you can't blow up a giant propane tank with a single rifle shot either.
We were better for it.
Wow. Replaced our heat pump in Jan, 2020 for $8,500. Took three trips under warranty to get to work correctly. First time was faulty thermostat, 2nd time was a leak in a valve, third time was a capacitor.
They might evaporate up to 70 gallons per day.
That is over the 55 gallon per day (per person) limit that CA is considering.
Some of the newer freons are environmentally friendly but flammable.
Pretty much how it feels when I step outside my home in Pensacola.
Uh…think so. Don’t try it for yourself. R12 plus flame equals phosgene, aka, mustard gas, nerve gas.
We sat outside but eventually had to go to bed.
Top floor of a Boston 3 decker….black tar roof,,just brutal.
.
As is gasoline and we seem to manage it pretty well. There are plenty of vehicles running on propane and natural gas without any Hindenburg like disaster. Life is not risk free but there are acceptable risks for accomplishing what we as a nation have achieved. No matter how many stickers they put on a ladder there will still be people dumb enough to step on that paint shelf.
Yup. I hear that.
Tomorrow and Sunday it’s supposed to hit 95 here in NJ.
Nothing like getting thrown right into it.
Have..... many a time. Still here. Apparently you don’t have a clue about the old school leak detectors which were a simple propane bottle with a specialized adapter and hose. Still have that tool and use it from time to time.
Phosgene gas was a particularly nasty weapon used by the Germans in WW1 and has absolutely nothing to do with R-12 which, by the way, is the best and safest refrigerant ever developed.
And don’t even bother to throw that ozone layer BS at me.
We will all get free fans,
When I was a kid the local funeral home furnished air conditioners for all who attended the funeral. Hand powered but effective.
You apparently haven’t blown yourself up yet but I do detect some possible nerve damage.
LOL..... your a trip dude/dudette. Any well-trained monkey can copy and paste. Next you’ll be telling me that refrigerant dyes are killing muvver earf and destroying the ozone layer as well as causing cancer in rats and kitties.
Speaking of blowing oneself up, back in the day I cleaned car parts with a parts brush in a pan of gasoline with a lit cigarette hanging from my mouth. Did it for years and still do from time to time. Oh noes.....
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