Auto AC systems have also gone to R134a (appx 1997 was the last time R-12 “Freon” was put in a new car for sale in the US)

You could use Propane as a replacement for the refrigerant in an AC system… it just requires the pump to be changed and different size flow restriction between the high pressure and low pressure sides. (and a leak would mean your house could explode) Propane decomposes in sunlight… EPA approved disposal of waste propane is to vent it to the air.

R-12 has been illegal to make or import to the US for long enough… that its most likely that the systems you are seeing being recharged don’t use it. So.. the environmental impact of the recharges is probably ZERO.

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Its not very smart to just keep recharging an AC system that leaks rather than fixing the leak… It gets expensive to keep recharging.

this was a lie, similar to global warming, to make people buy new a/c units!

BY THAT LEGISLATION 99% OF ANY MACHINES THAT PRODUCED COOLING WERE MADE OBSOLETE.

a/c still use “freon” just different chemicals, which are less thermodynamically efficient than the old cfc’s based type. not only that, they reuire lubricating oils that are more expensive because the original oils aren’t compatible

if a repairman charges 1 a day for 2 weeks, that’s 14 units. what’s that? maybe 20%?

next year 14 different units break. again less than 20%?

they aren’t necessarilly recharging the same ones over and over.

furthermore, when an a/c unit needs to be repaired, it doesn’t always need freon.

so just because a tech is working on a unit, it doesn’t mean it needs charged.

some units have gone 30 years w/ freon being added.

new systems are DOUBLE what they were 2 years ago. why? energy standards were raised.

so your $2,000 (USD) replacement becaomes $4,000.

you wanna pay that or $300. to fix the leak and recharge it?

it used to be more ecnomically justifiable to people to change them when they were cheaper.

the 10/12 seer units still saved power over older models (there are still a lot in use that are in the 6-8 range) and they were still “reasonably” priced. now that’s out the window.

would you buy a new car because you had a flat tire?

people just can’t afford it as easily as they used too. and you can thank people who “police this” and want to save the earth for it.

FWIW, window units are the most inefficent of a/c units. they are still in the 6-10 SEER range- compared to 13 minimum for central air.

But just because it’s illegal to mnfg, doesnt mean it’s illegal to refill. I’m not sure if you’re allowed to import it either. But it would be best to look up your local law on it, to see if your state allows refilling. In autos, though, they cannot refill Freon, they MUST change over the system to R-134a.

In all actuallity, propane is really one of the best coolants to use (I’ve seen this in Engineering textbooks and read about it in a few scientific articles). But the problem is that if the closed a/c system developes a leak, then…well…boom. Even though not much propane would actually be in the a/c system, this could do some damage.

The best way to police this is to make BUYING Freon illegal. That way, service repairmen cannot legally buy any more of it and would have to extinguish their current stock. But that would also cause millions of low income households to have a relatively large replacement cost for a new unit, when the old one stops working. So, what politician would want to propose that legislation and potentially anger the low-income vote? It would have to be a newly elected sentator, so they have 5yrs left to clean up their public image.