Air conditioners to start using slightly flammable refrigerant soon

Big changes are coming to the way you keep your house cool. The type of refrigerant currently used in HVAC systems is being phased out.

The 2020 American Innovation and Manufacturing Act directed manufacturers to make air conditioners that use A2L refrigerant starting January 1, 2025.

Because of that, air conditioners had to be redesigned to accept the new refrigerant, which is considered slightly flammable.

If your first question is “flammable?” and your second question is, “What does this mean for my current HVAC system?” 5 On Your Side has you covered.

“The current refrigerant, 410A, has a high global warming potential,” Jenna McClintock, of McClintock Heating & Cooling, said of the reason for the change.

A2L is more flammable than the refrigerant currently being used, so air conditioning units had to be overhauled for safety.

“There's going to be detectors inside of where the equipment's located indoors, that's built into the equipment to be able to shut it down and alert the customer that you have a leak of some type,” said Rob McClintock, the company’s President and Founder.

Kate Whalen is the Chief Mechanical and Fuel Gas Code Consultant for the North Carolina Office of the State Fire Marsha. She says the “slightly flammable” label on new refrigerants shouldn't worry homeowners.

“You have a contained amount,” Whalen said. “Even if there were a source, an ignition source that could light it, you don't have enough to in any one space to ignite.”

It’s not like a gas line leak that continuously expels gas until it’s plugged. A leak of A2L from an air conditioner would be more like spilling a gas tank, but the refrigerant is much harder to catch on fire than gas.

A2L is also used in most new cars and smaller home cooling systems, so it’s not a brand-new concept.

If you just invested in an HVAC system that uses the old refrigerant, don’t panic. Rob McClintock says it won’t disappear overnight.

“We don't think you'll have a problem getting the refrigerant,” he explained. “If we look back in history, we look at when we saw the 410A being implemented, that was 2010. Until a few years ago, we were able to get R22, which 410A replaced. So, we expect that 410A refrigerants – although it will be severely cut and in the manufacturing of it – will be widely available for years to come,"

When 5 on Your Side asked McClintock about price, he said he expects the 410A refrigerants to “tick up” in price.

“But that is a commodity, it’s one of those things that changes all the time,” he said.

You’re likely to see more of the new systems that use A2L refrigerant start to hit the market after this summer.

As for getting new systems serviced, the McClintocks said many of the components and how they handle the refrigerant will be very similar to what they already work with now.