Austin Air Companie Blog : Posts Tagged ‘Kigali Amendment’

2023 R410a & HFC Refrigerants Phase Down, Equipment ban time line & Important Air Conditioning Information Update

Thursday, February 16th, 2023

Hello and welcome to the #1 Katy Texas air conditioning & furnace blog for your home. Hope everyone is well and comfortable as this subject I have for you today may come as a surprise to some.

HVAC and air conditioning subjects in general are typically only explored when you are having a comfort problem in your home. These kinds of comfort appliances (HVAC systems) can last a long time when property cared for  and maintained it’s not uncommon for me to be called to a broken air conditioner that is 10 years or in some cases twice that age. That said it’s also not uncommon for me to be called to a broken one that is only a few years old. HVAC is often times a weird business.

This 2023 HFC refrigerant phase down and AC equipment ban update isn’t to rehash or tell you about why this is happening. So if you are unaware this air conditioning subject began several years ago. HVAC is always changing. Sometimes it can be many years even a decade or more with little if any change at all.

I have another page dedicated for how this subject began and all the potential problems dates and such as to when to expect these changes you can go to this page by clicking here it contains several video clips explaining this subject each clip is roughly 30 minutes long. These aren’t the only changes effecting the HVAC market in 2023 so I’ll likely save that for another topic all it’s own because I’d rather make things clear rather than potentially confuse you.

If spending hours watching videos isn’t your thing and you live in or near the Katy, Texas area you can call Ray Austin @ 832~475~6895 and schedule a service call to your home. I will come to your home in person. With 29 years in the HVAC industry and 15 years as of February 2023 running my own HVAC company (Austin Air Companie of Katy, Texas) I can find a path forward for you and your family’s comfort problems. I have helped 100’s and 100’s of your neighbors over the years. What ever your plans are I can find a solution for you too. I have video content on my you tube channel that demonstrates what I can do. Interesting stories from 2022 coming soon to my  you tube channel make sure you’re subscribed to my channel so you don’t miss them.

The road forward in HVAC comfort solutions for your home is in my opinion going to get bumpy. I cover why this is so in my Freon Wars 2023 Update in the video embedded below. I spent the better part of a 40 hour work week making this video. It’s that important. I do everything here. So you will only ever get 1 opinion when dealing with Austin Air Companie. This doesn’t mean I will only ever give you one option. I believe an informed home owner is better able to make an informed decision than one that is rushed or gimmicked (tricked) into make a poor choice.

R410a Puron & Freon HFC Phase Down, Equipment Ban & Important Air Conditioning Information Update 2023

If you have older HVAC equipment at your home now it may be in your best interest to replace your equipment now in 2023. Once R410a equipment bans occur in 2025 your choices will be much more difficult. In 2035-2036 the new equipment that is coming will likely enter a new phase out cycle.

If you replace your AC unit in 2023 at a national average life of 15 years you mostly likely will skip the mess that is coming starting in 2025. I know every situation is unique so this isn’t to put you in a box and force you to do something you are not ready for. This is about providing you information and helping you make a wise decision.

An AC repair may be all you need. Once I check your AC system(s) and discuss your home comfort goals with you I can then tailor a solution to your personal situation. That being said, I am here to offer solutions that will work. That is the only definition of a solution I use is that the solution must work and not create new problems. This also isn’t to suggest that all your worries are over. HVAC in a hot climate like Katy, Texas you nor I am ever truly done with HVAC. It’s a mechanical machine that will break again. I am skilled to minimize that as much as possible.

About the Author of this blog / website & videographer:

My name is Ray Austin owner/operator of Austin Air Companie a small HVAC service company that services the Katy, Texas area and some surrounding areas. I write my own blogs, I make my own videos, No investors, no intimidation to tell you like it is. My HVAC career is 29 years long, 15 of which running and operating my own HVAC service company. This isn’t to brag but to illustrate a point that the information you get here will be factual and correct. The internet is a dangerous place of misinformation. This is primarily why I started writing all my own content because knowledge on this subject of HVAC is highly lacking for a hot climate in which I live and service.

If you call me, you will get me. There is no technician roulette wheel to spin here at Austin Air Companie.

Did you know that HVAC is often times a game of cat and mouse? You see early on in my HVAC career I was forced to run calls for free. Because the managers / owners of the company I worked for were into games of tricking people. The advertisements were geared toward making the phone ring (promising free this or that). Then to make those advertisements pay off I was told to sell new systems. You have to do that to pay for those fancy advertisements from the TV. In 2022 advertising costs are even higher not to mention the cost of everything.

The job of HVAC is an important as well as dangerous job that is likely to only get more dangerous due to all the changes that are due in the next few years. It’s more important than ever that who you use to service repair and even replace your HVAC system is someone that you trust. (Even if this doesn’t include me.)

The choice is yours to make. I lay it out for you then you choose what you think is best for you and your situation. If something else happens? Call me again. You will always need a good HVAC repair man, more so now than any other time before.

Thank you for visiting my website I hope the information here helped you make a wise decision. As always I hope your day is comfortable.

R22 Freon Ban AND R410a Puron Phase Down 2022

Thursday, May 5th, 2022

R22 Freon Ban

So I believe most everyone knows by now of this R22 Freon Ban a popular refrigerant that was used in air conditioners across the USA for the better part of the last 40 years or so. I still to this day find these machines and the result is often to replace this with air conditioners that use the newer refrigerant R410a Puron, that is often confused with the latter.

Up until about a few years ago it was sometimes feasible to just repair an R22 Freon machine, however this refrigerant has now become so costly it is almost always better to replace the equipment for a new air conditioner that uses R410a Puron. R22 Freon was banned because the chemicals in which it is made from contain chlorine and it was deemed unfriendly to the ozone layer in the atmosphere where it was cutting holes in that layer. (A layer in the stratosphere that protects the earth from UV rays of the sun)

R410a Puron Phase Down

R410a is set to be phased down for entirely different reasons than destruction of the ozone layer. There was an amendment to the Montreal Protocol in 2016 known as the Kigali Amendment. The reason why you may not have heard or know of this until now is that due to Trump being elected US President later in 2016 of that year the Trump adminstration ignored the Kigali Amendment thru out his adminstration.

What one adminstration can ignore, another can change course and expedite things under a Global Warming national emergency header. However, as I share this topic and delve deeper into where things are one thing will become abundantly clear. There is no perfect solution to this problem. It’s primarily a cat and mouse game at this point. (As of May 2022 things don’t look that great.) 

In an attempt to give you a clear understanding of this topic I made a video what / how / why and when this is due. This video below is only a starting point to show how we got to this point. Video embedded below. 

The cost of R22 Freon is primarily what is driving new replacements of air conditioners in my area of Katy, Texas which is a hot climate in which we run our air conditioners 9-10 months of the year most years. The con in all of this is you won’t live in Katy, Texas climate without air conditioning.

So essentially any AC you buy in 2022 will come with R410a. There’s no problem in that just on it’s own provided of course that new unit doesn’t spring a refrigerant leak. Oh well I have a warranty so you might think you’re ok until you dig out that warranty certificate to find out refrigerants are not covered by any manufacturer.

Refrigerant Wars

There are so many ways to slice and dice this… there are no easy answers I can assure you of that. So what can you do?

Educate yourself, I lay it out for you cut and dry this subject will be long. Don’t do your homework plan on an empty wallet no other way around that. If spending hours trying to educate yourself on such things is not your thing and you live in the Katy, Texas area? You could call me my name again is Ray Austin. Your own personal easy button. I will lay out your options for you considering your situation (whatever that may entail).
Call me at 832-475-6895

Here is the start of a multi part discussion of possible future refrigerants, each of which will require new air conditioning equipment. No free lunch here. I decided to call this Freon Wars and you’ll see why as I post additional parts to this blog post.

Here is the second part 2b to refrigerant (freon) wars saga.

Here is the third part 2c to refrigerant (freon) wars saga.

Stay tuned / book mark this post as I will update it as things move along. Should know more the closer we get to 2023. Thanks for watching and thank you for visiting with me today.

There’s been some interesting developments for 2023 and due to what I believe is a turn for the worse I decided to make a new post to continue this subject. You can find this 2023 update to the Freon Wars saga by clicking here. 

About the Author of this blog post:
My name is Ray Austin owner/operator of Austin Air Companie a small HVAC service company that services the Katy, Texas area and some surrounding areas. I write my own blogs, I make my own videos, No investors, no intimidation to tell you like it is. My HVAC career is 28 years long, 14 of which running and operating my own HVAC service company.

If you call me, you will get me. There is no technician roulette wheel to spin here at Austin Air Companie.

Did you know that HVAC is often times a game of cat and mouse? You see early on in my HVAC career I was forced to run calls for free. Because the managers / owners of the company I worked for were into games of tricking people. The advertisements were geared toward making the phone ring (promising free this or that). Then to make those advertisements pay off I was told to sell new systems. You have to do that to pay for those fancy advertisements from the TV. In 2022 advertising costs are even higher not to mention the cost of everything.

If you are calling me I will inform you of all choices even repairing your air conditioner. I am skilled in working for you, not just recommending something that is only beneficial to me. It’s about providing you an air conditioning service that you can rely on. I will do my best to explain the risks of doing what you decide to do. That is what a skilled HVAC contractor can do for you.

If I ran service calls for free now with gas prices where they are up over $4 a gallon currently. That isn’t wise financially. I have to remain in business to serve the customers I have already. As I lay out things that are changing in the HVAC industry in this Katy Texas AC Blog post you need a skilled HVAC contractor more than ever. Unless of course you are naturally wealthy and can afford to replace your AC equipment over and over again.

The choice is yours to make. I lay it out for you then you choose what you think is best for you and your situation. If something else happens? Call me again. You will always need a good HVAC repair man, more so now than any other time before.