Well folks I can’t say that I didn’t see this coming. I think most everyone did. On November 2nd, 2016 the EPA announced many changes on their certification program, who can buy refrigerants, and who can handle refrigerants. Not a lot of people knew that today as I write this you actually do not need … Read more
Well folks it’s official. Another phase out is among us. The world has come together to ban HFC refrigerants such as R-134a, R-404A, and R-410A across the world by the year 2100. Yes, that’s right 2100. While that may sound a ways away it is worth mentioning that the first official date of scheduled phase … Read more
Alright, so I’m kind of ashamed to admit this but I just found out this was a thing only a few months ago. It never occurred to me that covering up your air conditioning unit in the winter was necessary. My family and I just bought a new R-410A unit a little over a year … Read more
I don’t know about where you are at but the heat is on here in Kansas City. Yesterday was ninety degrees and today is set to go higher. I spent most of my evening yesterday in the cool waters of our neighborhood pool. I hope that all of your air conditioners rather they be automotive, … Read more
In just a month from now one-hundred and ninety-seven countries will meet in Dubai for the twenty-seventh meeting of the Montreal Protocol Treaty. The meeting is to start on November 1st and is expected to last most of the week. Unlike in the past where these meetings were held to discuss the damaging of the O-Zone … Read more
The initial phase out of HydroChloroFluroCarbons began for most developed countries in the early 2000s. Here in the United States the first big step that we took was in 2010 when the phase out of R-22 Refrigerant began. It was a staggered process as most phase outs have been. In 2010 no new R-22 machines could … Read more
I watch the online market for any mention of the words refrigerant, R-22, R-12, R-134a, R-410A, etc. It helps me keep a pulse on the industry and also alerts to me any possible stories that could be written. Something that I’ve noticed over the past few months is that there has been a rash of … Read more
The beginning of refrigeration reclamation can be traced back to the 1990s when the initial stages of the Montreal Protocol were put into place across the country. Since then refrigerant reclamation has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry and is only expected to grow in the coming years. There are many companies to choose from … Read more
Last week the French President Francois Hollande held a Climate Conference in Paris backed by the United Nations. This conference involved many countries from across the globe and one of it’s main objectives was to hash out an agreement on an amendment to the Montreal Protocol that would ban HFC refrigerants across the world. HFCs … Read more
Well ladies and gentlemen the reign of R-134a has finally come to an end here in the United States. Last week RIGHT before the July fourth holiday the Environmental Protection Agency thought it was the perfect time to announce that they will be phasing out R-134a across the country. I wrote an article summarizing the … Read more
Refrigerant reclamation is a multi-billion dollar industry across the United States and throughout the world. If you are working with CFC or HCFC refrigerants you are required to recover the refrigerant and either recycle or send to a refrigerant reclaimer. While the original intent of refrigerant recovery was to prevent the venting of CFCs/HCFCs into … Read more
All refrigerants are identified by having an ‘R’ in front for refrigerant and with a set of numbers after the ‘R.’ This numbering system has been standardized by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers association. In order for refrigerants to be easier to identify they have all also been color coded. The … Read more
In October of 2013 DuPont announced that they would be creating a new company for their chemical manufacturing division. The new company would be called the ‘Chemours Company.’ The name Chemours comes from a combination of the word Chemicals and of the small town in France called Nemours. (The DuPonts were from Nemours.) This new … Read more
Counterfeit refrigerants are slowly becoming a widespread problem throughout the world. Just recently there were twenty tons of R-22 refrigerant disguised as R-134a being brought into Russia. Russian custom officials caught and confiscated the fake shipment. (Story can be found here.) On top of the Russian import there was another instance in India where a … Read more
First and foremost please note that refrigerant is a commodity and prices can change wildly from week to week. It all depends on demand and any market surprises. Think of refrigerant as oil. You always hear about how much a barrel of oil is in the news and see how fast it can change. Refrigerant … Read more
As everyone knows R-22 was phased out in 2010, production was scaled back in 2015, and it will be completely phased out in 2020. With these phase outs occurring over the past five years the price of R-22 Refrigerant has sky rocketed to right at about three hundred dollars for a thirty pound cylinder. With … Read more
Earlier this month a man broke into a Norfolk, VA refrigerant distributor’s facility and helped himself to one-hundred and fifty jugs of R-22 refrigerant. The news article can be found here, but there isn’t too much to read as cops don’t have much to go off of. No mention of how he transported it or … Read more
Enviro-Safe, a refrigerant manufacturer in Perkin, IL, was fined $300,000 by the Environmental Protection Agency this month due to them selling non-approved flammable hydrocarbon refrigerants. The refrigerants in question were hydrocarbon alternatives to R-22 and R-502. Enviro-Safe has them listed as ES R-22a and ES R-502a. With the EPA’s SNAP program all alternative refrigerants need … Read more
I did a post on 2015 refrigerant predictions last November and figured I would do another post predicting this summer’s pricing as well as the fall and even into 2016. After all, it’s been six months since my last prediction post and a lot has changed. So, what is the price per pound on refrigerant … Read more
I wrote in a previous article about how India has finally come out in favor of phasing out HFC refrigerants under the Montreal Protocol. (Former article is here.) Well now India has formally submitted an amendment to the United Nations to amend the Montreal Protocol to include HFC refrigerants. This amendment was submitted a week … Read more