My outside unit has died after 10 years of loyal service and I have two quotes to replace the old unit with a new SEER 16 unit. One quote is to replace just the condenser and the other quote from another HVAC co includes new evaporator coils. The reasoning is that the pressure would double on the 10 year old coils and that it would likely to develop a leak in the near future. The proposed new evaporator is the exact same model etc that is currently installed. If I want to go beyond SEER 16 I would have to replace the furnace unit as well. What is the best approach? The total difference between the two quotes is $2,200. Condenser Model: Lennox 13ACD-048-230-01 I also have the exact same setup on the 3-ton unit for upstairs so I am sure I will have to replace that soon enough as well. What they said makes sense, but why the whole furnace and not just to evap coils? They are tough to get at for sure, and the labor cost may be prohibitive to just replace the evap. The other reason might be to pick up a rebate on the furnace if it's old enought.

I agree replacing everything will save in the long run. Flushing the system rarely gets everything and residue in the system can shorten the new system life. When the company recoveres the R22 out of the system being removed from service that same R22 can be used to top your other R22 system legally. Other than that it is supposed to be sent back to a recycler. If you are replacing the A/C system with 410A refrigerant then you will have to replace the indoor coil and refrigeration lines as well due to the suction lines on the 410A units are larger. They still make HCFC22 refrigerant units that would allow you to replace only the outdoor condensing unit.Browse other questions tagged hvac air-conditioning or ask your own question.What are average costs to replace an air conditioner coil and condenser in the US? May 11, 2009   Subscribe What are average costs to replace an air conditioner coil and condenser in the US? And, should I stay with R22, or change to R410A?The final phase-out of R-22 will once again be impacting supplies and prices of R-22.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) final phasedown schedule is as follows: Drop from 51 million pounds allowed in 2014 to 22 million pounds beginning Jan. 1, 2015. Subsequently, 18 million pounds of new and imported R-22 will be allowed in 2016, 13 million pounds in 2017, 9 million pounds in 2018, and 4 million pounds in 2019. No new or imported R-22 will be allowed in the U.S. on or after Jan. 1, 2020. Industry leaders estimate the R22 aftermarket consumption for end users to be somewhere between 50 to 60 millions pounds for 2016. cheap ac repair stockton caWith only 18 millions pounds of new R22 and an estimated 8 million pound of recycled R22, there will be a supply and demand imbalance. split unit ac freonThis will drive the price of R22 up.portable ac unit at costco

It’s important to have an understanding about how these changes will impact you and to have a plan on how to address these issues either before or when a major failure occurs. The first step would be to evaluate your equipment. What is the age of the equipment? Is it the type of equipment where it’s more cost effective to replace the equipment instead of repairing when there is a major component failure? The EPA set up regulations to ban the production of heat pumps and air conditioners that contained R-22 after December 31, 2009. HVAC equipment manufacturers discovered a loophole in the law that allowed them to manufacture and sell system components as long as these components contained no refrigerant. This loophole has recently closed and dry units will no longer be available. This change will impact businesses that have smaller R22 split systems with condensing units. Condensing units have a short lifespan so when there is a major component failure in a condensing unit, it is normally more cost effective to replace the entire condensing unit.

With dry units no longer available, the first option would be to use an R410A condensing unit and add an expansion valve. In some cases switching to an R410A condensing unit will require replacing the refrigerant piping due to sizing requirements and replacing the evaporator coil. In either case, repair costs and the amount of time needed to replace a condensing unit will be driven upwards. If you have rooftop style units or larger condensing units where normal repair practices are to replace the major components upon failures, your options are to utilize a drop in replacement refrigerant when it’s time for a major repair. There are disadvantages to using a drop-in refrigerant. When you introduce a refrigerant that the system was not built for, you can lose some efficiency. The efficiency loss can range depending on your system and the replacement refrigerant used. Contact us today to get a estimate on what it will take to get your equipment ready for the changeover or to upgrade your system.

It seems as if we enjoy shooting ourselves in the foot. Back in 1990, Congress passed the latest modification of The Clean Air Act. Among other things, the 1990 version required the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set up a program for phasing out the production and use of chemicals that have a high ozone-depletion potential, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). This included refrigerant R-22. In May 1993, the EPA set up regulations to ban the production of heat pumps and air conditioners that contained R-22 after December 31, 2009. Some manufacturers anticipated this deadline and produced extra R-22 units for sale after the production ban went into effect. Six to nine months into 2010, most of these “extra” units ran out, and consumers had no choice but to replace their cooling units with complete matched systems using R-410a. Not only was this good for the environment because fewer HCFCs were being produced that could be released, it should have been good for contractors, because we could start selling complete R-410a systems.

It also should have been better for consumers because a complete system should have better energy efficiency and a longer life than a system made up of mixed-and-matched equipment. Alas, sometime during 2010, after most of the R-22 units made in 2009 ran out, an HVAC equipment manufacturer discovered a loophole in the law. They saw that it was allowed to manufacture and sell system components as long as these components contained no refrigerant. The reason for this wording was to allow items such as coils, compressors, and the like to be manufactured to repair existing systems. A manufacturer decided a condenser was a component, not a complete system, and therefore was a repair part. The EPA didn’t challenge this, and many more manufacturers started manufacturing “dry” (uncharged) outdoor units. I recently talked to the suppliers in my area. I asked them how many dry units they sell compared to complete R-410a systems. One supplier told me it was about even. One supplier told me they sell four to five times as many dry units as complete systems.

The allocation rights were designed to allow contractors to service existing equipment without experiencing shortages; they were never intended to permit continued production of equipment that uses R-22. But that’s what has happened. Fortunately for contractors, until recently R-22 has been available and affordable, because the existing allotments were more than enough to meet demand. So even those installing dry units have been able to buy enough R-22 at a reasonable price to continue operations. The whole idea of phasing out R-22 units 10 years before production of R-22 ceased was so there would not be a large inventory of nearly new R-22 units with no way of servicing them. Imagine a consumer buying a dry unit in 2018, then three years later needing R-22 added because the older indoor coil had sprung a leak. A contractor could put in a new air handler and change the metering device, but where would he get R-22 to charge or top off the system? The consumer would have to replace the whole thing all over again and throw away a three-year-old condensing unit.

So now the EPA has to contend with closing an unintended loophole. I can’t say that I didn’t see this coming. Everyone in the industry had to realize that there would be some repercussions. Well, the repercussions are here now. According to the Heating, Airconditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI), from 2005 through 2010, only about 77% of consumption allowance for R-22 was used, so there was a surplus of R-22 in the market. Thus, the EPA has revisited the allocation question—not just for now, but for the future. On December 30, 2011, the EPA published its proposed rule for HCFC-22 Production and Consumption Allocation Rights for 2012. The previous rule allocated 100 million pounds in 2011 and 90 million pounds in 2012. In the new rule, the EPA has proposed to reduce the 2012 allotment for production and import to between 55 million pounds to 80 million pounds. Since this was a proposed rule, for the first part of January, 2012, it was illegal to produce or import into the U.S. any R-22 for air conditioning or refrigeration.

Once this became known, panic buying ensued. On January 20, the EPA issued “non-enforcement” letters to producers and importers so that reduced levels of R-22 would be available until the final rulemaking is made. However, the non-enforcement letter states that the production and importation of R-22 should be limited to 17% of the 2011 baseline until the final rulemaking. This will keep supplies of R-22 tight. Once the final rule is written, importation and production of R-22 can be increased or decreased to meet the restrictions imposed by the final rulemaking. Meanwhile, prices for R-22 have skyrocketed. As of this writing they seem to have stabilized, as no contractors are buying pallet loads at the new pricing. Panic buying has stopped for now. But even a contractor who purchased significant amounts of R-22 prior to the big price increases still has to charge the customer enough for R-22 so he can afford to buy new refrigerant when his supplies run low. The question remains: Are we going to stop shooting ourselves in the foot, and start selling matched systems to customers so they receive the full efficiency, capacity, and longevity they paid for?