R410 Freon

[leakyroof]

It's my understanding that R410 replaced R22, the long lived House/Commercial Building refrigerant .  A couple of years ago we changed out our system to a higher efficiency Unit with the 410 Freon.
While I was home Friday having my Central Air system serviced, I talked with the Tech about the 410, which he claims may be replaced with yet another R22 substitute in a few years. Has anyone who's in the HVAC or Building Trades heard this?
Seems like we just got R410 a few years ago... [blink]

 

[RKA]

Well, it will be replaced with something at some point, and R410A systems have been available since around 2008 give or take.  It's all partially driven by the desire to use less "bad" things for the environment, but I'm sure manufacturers of equipment don't mind the cycle of equipment purchases it inevitably brings. 

But any restrictions on the production of R410A won't likely happen until 2025 or more probably ~2030.  So at least until then, your units are servicable at a reasonable cost.  At present I'm not aware of anything concrete and official and when it happens there is usually many many years of notice given before the phaseout takes place. 

 

[Cheese]

Here's an interesting article on the Phase-down rather than the Phase-out of R-410A.

Interesting quote in the article:
"Furthermore, both the OEM equipment and fluorochemical manufacturers have not yet recovered their investments made into R-410A technology and will not do so for quite some time." 
I have my doubts about that statement.  [huh]
https://www.achrnews.com/articles/134672-is-r-410a-here-to-stay

 

[leakyroof]

Here's an interesting article on the Phase-down rather than the Phase-out of R-410A.

Interesting quote in the article:
"Furthermore, both the OEM equipment and fluorochemical manufacturers have not yet recovered their investments made into R-410A technology and will not do so for quite some time." 
I have my doubts about that statement.  [huh]
https://www.achrnews.com/articles/134672-is-r-410a-here-to-stay

  Actually ,what my A/C Tech said about Carrier being the primary funder of R-410s development to begin with ties into his thinking that Carrier will want to get their R&D money back and then some before agreeing to yet another Freon Substitute

 

[Gregor]

Carrier will want to get their R&D money back and then some before agreeing to yet another Freon Substitute

An interesting country must that be where commercial entities are able to decide policy.

 

[Brice Burrell]

An interesting country must that be where commercial entities are able to decide policy.

Large companies decide policy in Germany too.  Also, its not just Carrier, its everyone down the line, from distributors to tradesmen, that have invested in the technology.  They need to recoup their costs too.  Remember, in America the air conditioning market is much larger than all of Europe.       

 

[Gregor]

Large companies decide policy in Germany too.

I know, just not that happy about it.