Contractors face growing crime rates; Siemens and Rehau cease operations in Russia; upcoming 2023 DOE efficiency standards, pandemic, and supply chain issues add pressure to some manufacturers; rising HFC prices predicted to hit food retailers hard.

Prices of HFCs are increasing, which makes leak detection and mitigation an important strategy for food retailers.

The first brief was filed in the federal case against the EPA rule that would ban the use of non-refillable refrigerant cylinders and require refillable cylinders to be tracked.

Some alternatives to R-410A are mildly flammable (A2L) and thus require updated building codes and standards to ensure their safe use.

HVACR contractors can offer customers a solution to keep refrigerant costs down: reducing and eliminating leaks. That’s where better brazing comes in.

As the HVACR industry transitions away from HFCs such as R-410A to alternative refrigerants that are mildly flammable (A2L), it is not surprising that those who will be handling – or teaching about -- these new products have a lot of questions.

The EPA held a public workshop to explain how it will build off its final 2021 HFC baseline and phasedown rule to establish the allowance allocation methodology for 2024 and beyond.

The HFC phasedown and impending transition to lower-GWP refrigerants were top-of-mind at the recent AHR Expo. With the AIM Act, there is no stopping the transition to A2L refrigerants.

The HFC phasedown started this year with a 10% production cut, which is starting to affect the price of refrigerants such as R-410A.