R22 Changeover

The R22 phase-out is now underway.  The production of new equipment shipped with R22 in them has ended as of January 1, 2010.  Equipment that was produced prior to Jan. 1, can still be sold and installed as long as it is available.  The new refrigerant R410a that takes the place of R22 has some very different characteristics.  It cannot be used in older existing systems that were designed for R22.  R410a operates at a much higher pressure than R22 does.  The oil that the R410a systems use is a different type of oil than that used with R22.  When retrofitting a system that used R22 and upgrading to R410a you have to use a special flush to make sure that all the oil residue from the R22 is removed.  If not it can damage the new system.  If your existing inside coil is more than about 5 years old and you have been using an R22 system then it is not advisable to change only the condensing unit and expansion valve to R410a.  The old inside evaporator coil is probably not designed for the higher pressure and trying to run it at those pressures will most likely result in multiple refrigerant leaks.  There will undoubtedly be a lot of contractors out there telling people they can just change the outside condenser and inside expansion valve and make it work.  This could lead to a lot of premature failure.