The R-22 Phaseout: The Manufacturers Speak Out

Late last summer, the staff of this magazine pondered the HVACR industry's state of preparedness regarding the phaseout of R-22, especially from the manufacturer's perspective. We decided to answer our questions by asking the manufacturers what they were doing (or have completed), and we did so through a survey. We had better than a 44 percent response, which is stunningly high when you consider that these answers went beyond the simple exercise of checking off a box. Someone had to actually ponder over the reply.

Naturally, we didn't ignore the other players — wholesalers, contractors and the EPA. We allowed them to weigh in with their point of view, which we write about in separate articles.

Our manufacturers survey asked three sets of questions and we are sharing responses from some of the best-known names in the industry. In the spirit of fairness, we posed the same questions to everyone and limited the word count for answers to ensure a sense of proportionality for the length of replies.

The Questions:

Q1: What do you feel is the most important challenge/opportunity facing your company considering the changeover from R-22?

Q2: What has been your response to the challenge/opportunity to the changeover from R-22 and how is it different or unique?

Q3: What impact or results will your response have on HARDI wholesalers? What key message do you want to convey to HARDI wholesalers (or your distribution partners) regarding your efforts with the R-22 changeover?

The Responses:

Allied Air Enterprises

A1: The most important item for Allied Air with this transition was ensuring that our customers' needs were met. Changing from R-22 was not a technical challenge but was more of a logistical transition. Making sure we had the right mix of product available to our customers while ensuring that we kept our plants efficiently running was also key.

A2: Allied Air did a lot of early communication with our customers and periodically followed up with them with reminders about the transition deadline. We also clearly communicated, based on customers' buying trends, when the final manufacture dates of the R-22 products would be.

A3: We have worked hard to minimize any negative impact with our distributor partners. They worked with us to make this transition work for their businesses and for ours.

Contact: David Palazzolo, project manager, 803/738-4000, david.palazzolo@alliedair.com.

Appion Inc.

A1: Modern R-410A systems are designed with energy efficiency ratings, which are leaps and bounds ahead of previous R-22 systems.

However, the only way to guarantee these energy savings is to be sure that every aspect of the AC/R system is operating as designed. The biggest challenge is that the system contains ONLY pure, clean refrigerant and the proper refrigeration oil.

With R-410A systems, POE lubricants are the only option.