The year 2011 introduced the concept of dry-shipping HCFC-22 condensing units for retrofit applications, and that shipping and use is expected to continue through 2012.
Many in the industry expected a full-scale switch from R-22 to HFC-410A for air conditioning systems with the high-profile announcement from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that as of 2011 equipment could no longer be shipped with R-22. However, a so-called loophole was discovered in the EPA wording that allowed R-22 components, such as condensing units, to be shipped as long as they were not factory-charged with R-22 and that they were used in retrofit applications for existing R-22 systems.