With the cost of refrigerant 22 increasing, many people have been asking if there is a less costly refrigerant to replace R 22 when they have a leak in their air conditioning system. The answer is yes, with cautions.
They are:
- Manufacturers are recommending that only original R-22 be used in their A/C equipment and if they find out that other than new R22 refrigerant was used, they will not honor their warranty.
- The drop-in refrigerant does not have the exact qualities as the original R 22.
- It changes the properties of the original refrigerant if mixed with the drop-in refrigerant and will not give the same efficiency as originally stated.
- You have to remove all original R-22 refrigerant before the drop-in refrigerant can be used.
- The drop-in refrigerant only works with expansion valve metering devices. Most residential air conditioning units that are older had orifice flow control for metering, and the drop-in refrigerants don’t work well.
So in conclusion, you can save some money by using the drop-in refrigerant. With manufacturers recommending against it and a lot of air conditioning companies not understanding how to use it, I would say No, No, No.