R22 Phase Out
Since 1st January 2015, it has been illegal to use R22 refrigerant to maintain or repair air conditioning systems in the UK.
If yours was installed before 2004, you should be planning to replace it as soon as possible.
You don’t need to strip out all your pipework and wiring but you do need to upgrade your units and ensure your system is free from R22 refrigerant.
Modern air conditioning systems perform better, have higher outputs and are up to 50% more efficient than older models and also significantly reduce your carbon emissions. The benefits and cost savings over the lifetime of your system will far outweigh the cost of having it replaced. If your current air conditioning runs into a major problem, there will be no way to get it up and running again.
Responding to the R22 Phase Out
The R22 Phase Out is a legal requirement, so it’s impossible to do nothing.
If you rely on air conditioning for your day to day operations we recommend planning your transition, this will allow us to schedule work around your daily activity so that we can avoid unnecessary disturbance and downtime.
Now the R22 Phase Out deadline has passed, it’s especially important that you develop a plan. If your air conditioning breaks down, in most cases it will be impossible to repair and we would need to remove affected components and install new ones, the costs involved with this would be high and would cause disruption.
Complying with the R22 Phase Out
Since 1st January 2015, it has been illegal to use R22 refrigerant to repair or maintain air conditioning systems.
Aside from the legal risks, R22 systems in the UK are coming to the end of their usable lifetime. Properly maintained air conditioning systems typically operate for around 15 years before they need replacing. If you don’t have regular maintenance, it can be just half that, which is why we encourage our clients to have us carry out yearly Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM).
As your system gets older, it’s more likely to break down or fail completely. Normally, you could keep it going by spending more on maintenance and repairs, but, now the R22 Phase Out deadline has passed, that won’t be possible.
Air conditioning also gradually loses its efficiency and capacity over time. That means it costs more to produce a lower output than when it was new. When you take into account the fact that modern systems give vastly superior performance and efficiency, it makes perfect sense to replace your old equipment.
