Freon to stop being made by 2020

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - For decades, Freon has been used to fuel cold air out of the air conditioning units. But researchers found that it could not only be hazardous if there was a leak, but that it has been hurting our ozone layer.

The good news is that new air conditioning systems made since 2010 no longer rely on Freon. Most newer air conditioning units use a different refrigerant. The EPA started phasing out the production of Freon back in 2010 and it will officially stop being made on January 1, 2020.

Here’s the bad news: For those air conditioning systems that still rely on Freon, you may need to top them off this summer because once a unit has completely shut down, the pipes cannot fully flush out the Freon and adding any other refrigerant will just make matters worse.

“Well, we can’t do that anymore, and it’s because as contractors we have to provide solutions if we add refrigerant," Mr. AC Cooling and Heating CEO Andy Naylor said. "Due to the price and the soon to be unavailability of R-22, it is going to have to force everyone to get replacements.”

“Something that was made to last, is not actually made to last. It’s focus on energy efficiency and that’s where the whole market is going, so someone who has an older system, they may get a little frustrated that they won’t get as much out of the new one as they anticipated or expected.”

There are lots of frustrations of the costs which can run into the thousands of dollars.

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