Not a lot of you may have heard the term or name Puron before. But a lot of you have most likely heard the name Freon before. Freon and Puron are two different types of refrigerant and to understand this difference we first need to understand where these names come from. First, let’s take a look at Freon.
What is Freon?
The term Freon is actually a brand name trademarked by the DuPont, now Chemours, corporation. What that means is that Freon is a brand of refrigerant. It is the same way that Dr. Pepper is a brand of soda. We don’t call every soda out there Dr. Pepper. No, we either call it soda or we call it by it’s proper brand name. The same can be said about refrigerants.
Freon is a brand name of a specific type of refrigerant, mainly R-12 and R-22. The term Puron is also a brand name. The Puron brand refers to the HFC refrigerant R-410A. R-410A is the refrigerant that has replaced Freon R-22. You see, R-22 Freon was phased down across the country due to the Chlorine that it contained. When vented into the atmosphere the Chlorine would damage the Ozone layer. In order to stop this R-22 Freon was phased down and was replaced with the non Ozone depleting Puron R-410A.
What is Puron then?
Puron, or R-410A, is a blended HFC refrigerant that is made up of R-32 and R-125. (About fifty percent of each.) This 410A refrigerant is now the primary default for home and commercial air conditioners. Any air conditioner manufactured in 2010 or newer will most likely be using R-410A Puron. If you’re unsure what refrigerant your system uses you can find out by checking the sticker label on your outside unit.
While Puron is the ‘king’ refrigerant right now (2018) it may not stay on the throne forever. Puron doesn’t have an Ozone depletion potential but it does have a very high Global Warming Potential, or GWP. GWP is a measurement of how much a certain chemical contributes to Global Warming. The higher the GWP the more damage a chemical or refrigerant can do to the environment.
As I write this article there isn’t a preferred successor to R-410A but there are some contenders out there such as the HFC R-32. No one knows for certain when, or even if, R-410A Puron will be phased down or not. For now, we carry on with 410A.