From The Field 

Megan Zamora, manager at Climate Control Systems in Frankfort, Illinois, just recently became aware of the R-454B shortage. Since it's still chilly in the Chicago area and demand for air conditioners is a few months away, the shortage has not yet affected her company. 

“Most of the supply houses were still selling off the R-410A inventory until about six weeks ago,” she said. “One of our suppliers has a decent inventory of R-454B refrigerant, and another one has 1,400 jugs scheduled for delivery by the end of the month. Hopefully, it will continue that way.” 

As far as R-454B equipment is concerned, Zamora said that in the last month, all of their supply houses have received an ample supply of residential systems.  

“I can tell you, it was difficult to acquire the A2L equipment from November to January,” she said. “Currently, there are commercial equipment shortages, with R-454B packaged units continuing to be out of stock with extensive lead times.” 

Brian McDaniel, owner of Verona Noland, a supply house in Verona, Virginia, is definitely worried about the availability of R-454B this summer. Earlier this year, he purchased a skid of R-454B cylinders in anticipation of the transition from R-410A. 

“Then we started getting emails from our refrigerant suppliers that we could only buy four jugs of R-454B at a time,” he said. “Then the emails said that they were completely out, and there was a six- to eight-week lead time on R-454B. So I started digging, and I found a place to buy R-454B, but they were charging $730 a jug. If I wait six weeks with our refrigerant supplier, the price is only $310 a jug.” 

When it comes to R-454B systems, McDaniel said he hasn’t had trouble securing equipment so far. However, he’s concerned there may not be enough cylinders of R-454B available for contractors to top off systems or repair leaks after installation. 

“It’s really tough on the wholesalers right now, because you have to make a decision about staying in business. Do you buy R-410A equipment, or do you transition fully to R-454B?” he said. “There are a lot of supply houses that transitioned, and now they can't get the refrigerant until mid-summer.” 

McDaniel decided to stock up on R-410A systems, estimating he has enough inventory to last through mid-July. After that, unless R-454B becomes readily available for purchase, he’s unsure of what to do. 

“We preplanned and bought all this extra R-410A equipment, which could come back to bite us if all of a sudden R-454B is abundant,” he said. “But I think it was a tight enough gamble that we're going to be able to get rid of it.” He added that even though the shortage of R-454B may not be much of an issue right now, “Come June, it's going to be a major issue across the nation. Without a bunch of R-454B being released, it's going to be a nasty summer.” 

Cylinder Shortage 

According to Christina Spalding, Americas sales manager, OEM and aftermarket - thermal and specialized solutions at Chemours, the manufacturer of R-454B, the primary issue with R-454B packaged product for the aftermarket is A2L cylinder availability. 

“Chemours currently has lead times of approximately 10 weeks for new orders, so depending on when a distributor placed orders, it may impact availability,” she said. “Demand is very strong in the aftermarket, but the reality is that installations are just now starting to happen with new equipment.” 

Joe Giannetti, general manager of cooling, construction, and fire suppression at Worthington Enterprises, stated that as the industry leader in A2L cylinder production, the company has a long-standing history of producing safe, high-quality cylinders specifically designed for mildly flammable gases. 

“During the current load-in phase, where demand is significantly higher than normal, we are working closely with customers to forecast orders and plan for on-time delivery,” he said. “Worthington Enterprises increased its production capacity, and through the hard work of our employees, we are well-positioned to fulfill all current orders. As always, we are committed to collaborating with our customers and we remain on track to support them with safe, quality cylinders in alignment with the A2L refrigerant transition.” 

There is plenty of R-454B gas available, said Trent Davis, director of marketing and product management at Lennox Commercial HVAC, but the cylinder shortage is creating challenges with packaging and distributing it to individual users.  

“Lennox equipment manufacturing is unaffected by the cylinder shortage, because we receive our R-454B refrigerant in bulk,” he said. 

Lennox has already converted its full line of commercial HVAC rooftop units (RTUs) and ducted split systems to low-GWP refrigerant, and Davis said that those products are flowing into the market. Based on customer feedback, Lennox converted its premium products to R-454B first, including Model L and Enlight RTUs.  

“We have mixed inventory of our standard-efficiency products, with R-410A equipment being sold through as new R-454B equipment arrives at distribution centers,” he said. 

While HARDI has received reports from distributors of extended lead times for packaged R-454B, CEO Talbot Gee, believes this is an unavoidable disruption that comes with any transition. 

“It is exacerbated in this instance from a product going from essentially 0 to excess of 40,000 metric tons in a very short timeframe,” he said. “Once all manufacturers have fully transitioned and shipped their summer orders, we believe the service market will slowly fill out.” 

Still, contractors should touch base with their supply houses now to check on availability of R-454B in the coming months. As Davis noted, “We are encouraging our customers to plan their R-454B cylinder purchases at least 90 days ahead of time to ensure adequate refrigerant on hand for the summer peak.”