Greetings ladies and gentlemen. It is that time of year again. It’s just a few days before Thanksgiving and here I am sitting in my office having a nice cup of coffee and taking shelter from those thirty degree temperatures outside. As I sip my coffee I have begun to think about the various types … Read more
Christmas is next week and then the week after is New Years. That leaves us with less then two weeks until the Environmental Protection Agency’s phaseout of R-22 goes into effect. The phaseout, effective January 1st, 2020, prevents any new manufacturing or importing of R-22 into the United States. The only way to purchase R-22 … Read more
At the beginning of this year many folks thought that the price of R-22 would rise and rise. Some were predicting prices at five-hundred or even six-hundred dollars for a thirty pound cylinder. After all, this was the last true summer for R-22. At the end of this year on January 1st, 2020 the Environmental … Read more
It was announced last Friday that an agreement had been made between the Federal Government’s EPA/Justice Department and the company Southeastern Grocers (SEG). Southeastern Grocers is a large grocery store chain that operates nearly six-hundred stores across the southern United States. They operate under various supermarket chains including BI-Lo, Winn-Dixie, Fresco y Mas, and Harveys … Read more
Over the past few months I have seen a rash of articles from all over the web stating that the price of Freon is going through the roof in anticipation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s planned phase out that hits January 1st, 2020. The frustrating part about all of these articles is that nearly all … Read more
The past few weeks have been rather crazy on my side of the world. I started a new job a few weeks ago, put a contract down on a house, and the kids start school in just a month. Time is definitely flying by. I’m hoping here in a few months things will begin to … Read more
As we all know, when January hits in 2020 R-22 production and importing will no longer be allowed within the United States. The only way to receive R-22 will be through purchasing virgin product from those distributors who have stockpiled or by purchasing reclaimed refrigerant. This simple fact is causing a lot of concern for … Read more
Well folks, we are now halfway through the year and there are only six months left until the January 1st, 2020 deadline hits for R-22 refrigerant. Yes, in just six months we will no longer be able to import or produce R-22 refrigerant within the United States. When that date arrives the only way to … Read more
One of the very first steps when it comes to diagnosing your home air conditioner, refrigerator, or even your vehicle’s air conditioner is understanding the temperature and the current pressure that your system is operating at. Having these facts along with the saturation point, the subcool, and the superheat numbers for the refrigerant you are working … Read more
Greetings folks! Another month is nearly wrapped up and we are slowly inching towards spring. We’ve got a few more hard weeks here in Kansas but I’m looking forward to the day when I can start planting some trees. I’m writing this article today as I was informed of more volatility in refrigerant pricing. Even … Read more
Even today there are so many homeowners and companies hanging onto their old R-22 systems. Sometimes it takes a heated negotiation just to convince a homeowner to switch from R-22 over to R-410A. Now imagine trying to convince a billion dollar company to switch all of their systems away from R-22. You think it would … Read more
The New Year has only just begun and already we are seeing refrigerant price changes coming to the market. Earlier today one of my contacts within the refrigerant industry reached out to me to share price increases that are coming down the pipeline. While so far these changes are from one or two manufacturers, I … Read more
Let’s take a look at R-22 Freon. R-22 is an HCFC refrigerant, also known as a HydroChloroFluroCarbons. These HCFC refrigerants along with CFC refrigerants were some of the very first mainstream refrigerants seen across the world. Origin of R-22 R-12 and R-22 along with other CFC/HCFC refrigerants were invented back in the 1930’s as the … Read more
It’s a matter of human nature. If something is banned or outlawed there will be an illegal trade or black market set up. It’s the way of the world. Unfortunately, the same thing can be said when it comes to CFC and HCFC refrigerants such as R-22. It was discovered earlier this year that traces … Read more
The term Freon is used all over the country to describe the refrigerant that is used in their home, commercial, or vehicle air conditioner. Even though it is used by man the term Freon is actually antiquated and is very rarely used within the HVAC industry. Chances are your air conditioner that you are using … Read more
Most people couldn’t care less about the pricing of refrigerant. I’m sure you didn’t care at all until your air conditioner broke down. Now you have a contractor at your home or office looking over the damage, or perhaps you have already received a quote from them and you are a little surprised by how … Read more
Well folks it is that time of year again. Today is the first cold day over here in Kansas City. We’re not supposed to get over fifty degrees today. This is the first sign that winter is coming and it’s not going to get any warmer for quite some time. So, while the wind blows … Read more
It’s that time of year again folks. Summer is gone, the leaves are turning, and we’ve already had our first frost here in Kansas City. If you got up early enough you could even see some snow falling a few days back. As this year comes to a close it has me thinking about what … Read more
Hello everyone! I hope your Labor Day is going well. We just got back from our city’s parade and I’ve got a few hours before our barbecue so I thought I’d take some time and get an article out there. I’m going to preface this article with the disclaimer that this is an opinion piece. … Read more
The phase down and phase out of HFC refrigerants across the European Union was done to help the environment. These commonly used HFC refrigerants have an extremely high Global Warming Potential (GWP) and are now being replaced with lower GWP alternatives such as HFO’s like 1234yf and by natural refrigerants such as R-744. In order … Read more