Air conditioners are a vital part of our homes, they can be considered one of the most important appliances that ensure our comfort.
Without them, summer in some states could become unbearable, therefore it is important for us to have an idea about R-410A Freon, which is a refrigerant used in air conditioners.
How much does R-410A Freon cost per pound?
Air conditioners manufactured after 2009 use R-410A as their refrigerants which puts an average cost between $100 to $320. This cost varies based on the size of your AC unit and its refrigerant type. The R-410A refrigerant has a cost between $50 to $80 per pound installed.
The R-410A Freon is a refrigerant that is used in air conditioners to cool the air. These R-410A refrigerants can cost around $50 to $80 for each pound installed in your air conditioning system but it costs as low as $4 to $8 per pound if you buy them wholesale.
Although the term R-410A and Freon are often used interchangeably, Freon is the name given to the R-410A manufactured by DuPont.
There is another type of Freon called the R-22 Freon but that is being phased-out by the EPA since 2020 and you cannot use R-410A on an R-22 air conditioner.
The use of R-410A refrigerants have been on the rise starting from 2020 when the EPA banned the import and purchase of the R-22 type Freon refrigerant.
Therefore, older air conditioning units that only use R-22 refrigerants are no longer being used and are being replaced by newer air conditioners that support the R-410A Freon.
Due to this phasing out of the R-22 Freons, the older air conditioners are no longer operable without R-22 as they cannot run using R-410A refrigerant – which meant most houses now use the R-410A air conditioner.
But given its widespread use, there are some complications regarding its cost and installation.
Calculating the cost of adding R-410A refrigerants to your air conditioning system is a difficult task since their cost varies depending on which state of the U.S. they are in. The cost of R-410A refrigerants can cost within the range of $50 to $80 per pound installed.
Beside your residing state, the cost of R-410A can also spike during the summer when there is a huge demand for the Freons which could significantly raise the cost per pound.
The national average cost for the installation of R-410A in your air conditioner is around $260 (including labor cost) but it ranges around $140 to upto $380 based on your residing state as well as season.
What is R-410A freon used for?
The R-410A Freon is commonly used as a refrigerant in different air conditioning appliances and usually comes in a rose-colored cylindrical package.
R-410A has been gaining popularity for being environmentally friendly as they consist of Hydrofluorocarbons that do not damage the ozone layer.
Conventionally, refrigerants like R-22 Freon were used in traditional air conditioners all across the US, however they contain elements such as HCFC which causes damage to the ozone layer and contributes hugely to global warming.
That’s why the Montreal Protocol and Kyoto protocol has been instated to abolish the use of R-22 in both developed and developing countries within 2030.
Therefore, as a green alternative – the use of R-410A has been on the rise as it uses HFC which does not deplete the ozone layer and cause global warming. And so, R-410A Freon is being used as the primary refrigerant for most modern air conditioners.
How much does it cost to recharge your ac unit with R-410A?
The cost of recharging your AC unit with R-410A depends on several factors – which has been thoroughly discussed in the listicle below:
Cost of refrigerant:
The cost of recharging your refrigerant depends on how many pounds of Freons you are installing.
Usually you do not need to recharge your ac unit with Freons unless there are leakages that caused the refrigerants to leak out. In summary, you would need $150 to $200 on average to cover the cost of recharging the refrigerant.
Labor cost:
The recharging process can be complicated and should only be handled by a certified HVAC professional.
The average labor cost for hiring a professional could depend on the area you live in such as urban areas that have higher hourly costs compared to rural areas.
The labor cost can also depend on any problems that your ac unit might have that the professional has repaired.
State of residence:
The cost of adding R-410A refrigerants to your air conditioning unit depends on which state of the US you live in as the price of R-410A varies regionally.
Below listed are the range of average costs of R-410A refrigerants across different states of the US:
- New York: $200 – $400
- Boston: $100 – $160
- Chicago: $230 – $390
- Dallas: $100 – $270
- Denver: $240 – $400
- Durham, NC: $550
- Long Beach, CA: $150 – $530
- St. Louis: $130 – $270
Why is R-410A Freon so expensive?
There are several reasons why the R-410A Freon is expensive, and they are discussed below:
Greater demand than supply:
Since R-22 is being phased out, more and more air conditioners are being reliant on R-410A Freons which caused their demands to significantly increase.
However, the producers of the R-410A are not able to keep up with the growing demands of this refrigerant due to the shortage of their key ingredients.
Therefore, making it very difficult to produce the R-410A which causes them to be so expensive.
Import costs:
The R-410A Freons are also made in China beside the US, which the US had trade relations with and imported them from China.
But due to the lower cost of Chinese R-410A producers, US refrigerant manufacturers convinced the ITC into issuing import tax on imported Chinese refrigerants which was over 200%.
This resulted in the cheap Chinese manufactured R-410A becoming expensive.
Trade complexities:
As the Chinese manufacturers produced R-410A at a very low production cost, the imported R-410A from China was cheaper compared to the ones manufactured by US refrigerant manufacturers.
This hurt the business of the US manufacturers as they had to cut down on their profits in order to compete with the imported R-410A.
In order to subside this conflict, the US International Trade commission instituted a tax on imported Chinese in order to keep the prices at a fair market value.
Why is R-410A being phased out?
Previously, the R-22 Freon was phased out for being a major contributor of global warming as it caused ozone layer depletion – and was replaced by the R-410A which did not damage the ozone layer.
However, the R-410A has been noticed to make other environmental impacts upon use.
Most new homes in the US use the R-410A Freon as their refrigerant which is known to be an excellent refrigerant to keep the interiors of homes cool and remove the hot air from the inside.
But despite their effectiveness, they do cause environmental issues despite not affecting the ozone layer.
In light of this situation, it was decided to phase out and replace the R-410A Freon with a much more effective and environmentally safe alternative.
How long will R-410A be available?
Any modern air conditioning system that was installed in and after 2010 probably runs on R-410A as its refrigerant.
So if your air conditioner was purchased during this timespan then your air conditioner is eligible for the phase-out. However, there is a long time remaining for the phase-out to be enacted and thus you can keep using your current air conditioner.
The phaseout for the R-410A using air conditioning systems has been planned and scheduled to begin around 2024.
In the meantime, all older AC systems are completely eligible to use without any issues. It could take around 10 years from 2024 for the phaseout to complete – and the typical lifespan of an AC system is 15 years on average.
What will R-410A be replaced with?
The refrigerant that will replace the R-410A needs to have a lower GWP value in order to be environmentally friendly. One such refrigerant is R-32 as announced by Daikin, which is an ideal refrigerant to replace R-410A.
Another manufacturer, Carrier, has announced to use R-32 along with R-454B on their ACs as a replacement.
The main constraint of the replacement refrigerant is that they need to be engineered in such a way that they have a 750 GWP value, which is considered the standard across the US and other parts of the world.
Final thoughts
R-410A refrigerants are used in air conditioners made after 2009, with prices ranging from $100 to $320 on average. This cost is determined by the size of your AC unit and the kind of refrigerant used. The cost of installing R-410A refrigerant is between $50 and $80 per pound.