Cooling # Refrigerants: R-410A, R-454B, R-32 and R-22 Licensed professional required Only EPA Section 608 certified technicians may purchase or handle refrigerant for stationary equipment. Refrigerant circulates in a sealed loop and is not consumed, so a system that is low has a leak. New residential systems use R-454B or R-32 because of the 700 GWP limit in force since January 2025, but R-410A equipment built before 2025 can still be legally installed. GWP limit, new equipment 700 GWP R-410A 2088 GWP R-454B 465 GWP R-32 675 GWP **Jurisdiction notice. **Efficiency standards, refrigerant rules, incentives, and licensing are set federally, by region, and by state, and they change. This page reflects EPA rules under the AIM Act, including the final rule of May 21, 2026 as of 2026-08-17. Verify before purchasing. ## Is refrigerant consumed, the way fuel is? No — and this is the single fact on this page most likely to save you money. Refrigerant is not a consumable. It circulates in a sealed loop and is not used up the way fuel or oil is. A system that is low on refrigerant has a leak. Adding refrigerant without finding and repairing that leak treats the symptom, vents the new charge over the following weeks or months, and costs you the same money again next season. It is why this site publishes no refrigerant charging procedure of any kind. That is not merely a matter of good practice: for a home system, doing it without certification is illegal. ## Why is it illegal for you to handle refrigerant? Only Section 608 certified technicians may purchase refrigerants intended for use with stationary refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment. The restriction covers ozone-depleting substances and non-ozone-depleting substitutes — including HFCs — in cylinders, cans or drums. Wholesalers must record the purchaser's name, the date of sale and the quantity. **The exception that confuses everyone.** There is one exception, and it is the source of a common and expensive misunderstanding. Small cans of MVAC refrigerant — containers designed to hold two pounds or less, with unique fittings and self-sealing valves — may still be sold to people without certification for do-it-yourself work on their own vehicles. That exception is for cars. It does not extend to your home's air conditioner, and the recharge cans sold for vehicles are not a legal or a technical substitute for diagnosing a leak in a house system. ## The transition, in order - January 1, 2020 U.S. production and import of R-22 ends, with narrow exceptions. Servicing existing equipment continues from reclaimed and pre-2020 stock. - 2020–2023 First step of the AIM Act HFC phasedown: production and consumption at 90% of baseline. - 2024–2028 The phasedown steps down to 60% of baseline. This step is why the price and supply of high-GWP refrigerants tightened. - January 1, 2025 A 700 GWP limit applies to newly manufactured residential and light commercial air conditioning and heat pump equipment. This is why new systems ship with R-454B or R-32 rather than R-410A. - May 21, 2026 EPA finalises a rule removing the January 1, 2026 installation deadline for equipment manufactured or imported before January 1, 2025. Pre-2025 inventory can be installed until supply runs out, with no deadline. - 2029–2033 The phasedown steps down to 30% of baseline. - 2036 onward Final step: 15% of baseline. ## What does this mean if I am buying a system right now? New equipment manufactured for this subsector must use a refrigerant under 700 GWP, which is why current systems ship with R-454B or R-32 rather than R-410A. But an R-410A system built before January 1, 2025 can still be legally installed from remaining inventory, with no deadline. If you are offered one, that is not automatically a red flag — ask about parts and refrigerant availability over the system's life, and price it accordingly. This is the part that is most often reported wrongly, because it changed recently. Guides written in 2024 and 2025 told readers that R-410A equipment could not be installed after January 1, 2026. EPA removed that installation deadline on May 21, 2026. ## The refrigerants you will see, and their numbers EPA regulatory exchange values (GWP) under the AIM Act, on the 2007 IPCC AR4 basis. RefrigerantTypeSafety classGWP (EPA)Status R-22 HCFC A1 — legacy R-410A HFC blend A1 2088 outgoing R-454B HFO/HFC blend A2L 465 current R-32 HFC A2L 675 current EPA's regulatory global warming potential values under the AIM Act are "exchange values" numerically equal to the 100-year GWPs in the 2007 IPCC Fourth Assessment Report. Other publications sometimes quote values from newer IPCC reports, which differ. The figures on this page are EPA's regulatory values, because those are the ones the thresholds are measured against. ## The numbers, as a chart Residential refrigerant GWP against the 700 limit. Source: EPA, verified 2026-08-17. Show the data behind this chart EPA exchange values (GWP). 2007 IPCC AR4 basis. Refrigerant GWPUnder the 700 limit? R-410A2088 NoR-454B465 YesR-32675 Yes ## How is the right equipment size decided? Nearly every persistent comfort problem traces back to equipment size, and size is decided before the first box arrives. The standard is the ACCA **Manual J** load calculation (ANSI/ACCA 2 Manual J - 2016), which totals the heat gain and loss of your specific house: orientation, window area and type, insulation levels, air infiltration, internal gains, and your local design temperature. What a Manual J is *not*: square feet per ton, and not the old unit's tonnage. The first ignores everything that makes one house different from another. The second assumes whoever sized the old equipment got it right, and propagates their error for another fifteen years. Oversized equipment reaches the setpoint and shuts off before it has dehumidified, so the house ends up cold and clammy at the same time. Every start is also the hardest moment in a compressor's life, so wear accelerates. And you pay for the surplus capacity twice — once to buy it and again to run it. Ask for the completed Manual J in writing, not the claim that one was done. [What it contains and how to read it](https://hvacbuddy.shop/sizing/manual-j/). ## What actually drives the cost? We publish no national average price, and the reason matters: an average across every house, region and system type is not a number you can act on. A replacement that includes duct modification, an electrical upgrade and a permit is a different job from a straight swap, and both read as "system replacement" on a one-page proposal. What actually drives your number: - **Equipment capacity and tier**, which should come from the Manual J rather than the old nameplate. - **The ducts** — whether they can move the air the new equipment needs, and what it costs if they cannot. - **Electrical work**, if a circuit or panel change is required. - **Permit and inspection**, usually required. - **Refrigerant** — current equipment uses R-454B or R-32; remaining pre-2025 R-410A stock may price differently. [What a bid should itemise](https://hvacbuddy.shop/costs/) · [operating cost calculator](https://hvacbuddy.shop/calculators/). ## Which efficiency numbers can you actually compare? If you are comparing efficiency figures, check which generation they belong to first. On January 1, 2023 DOE changed the test procedure and renamed three metrics: SEER became **SEER2**, EER became **EER2**, and HSPF became **HSPF2**. The current procedure measures at a higher external static pressure, much closer to what equipment meets once installed in a real house on real ductwork. DOE is explicit about the consequence: "Although SEER2, HSPF2, and EER2 ratings are similar to ratings using the original metrics, they are not directly comparable. Compliance with the new standards for each model must be determined based on its measured SEER2, HSPF2, or EER2." In practice: a SEER figure from a 2019 article cannot tell you whether a quote reading SEER2 is good, bad or identical. That is why we publish no conversion factor. We do not publish a SEER-to-SEER2 conversion factor. DOE states that ratings on the new metrics are "not directly comparable" to ratings on the original metrics, and that compliance must be determined from the measured SEER2, EER2 or HSPF2 value. Approximate multipliers circulate widely, but they vary by equipment type and configuration, and using one to compare an old article's number against a number on today's quote is how homeowners end up believing they were offered less efficiency than they were. Compare like with like: ask for the SEER2 figure, and check it against the AHRI certificate. The nationwide minimum for a split-system air conditioner is 13.4 SEER2, and for a split-system heat pump 14.3 SEER2 with 7.5 HSPF2. [What each metric measures](https://hvacbuddy.shop/efficiency/) · [minimums by region and state](https://hvacbuddy.shop/efficiency/standards/). ## What should you know about refrigerant? Refrigerant circulates in a sealed loop. It is not consumed the way fuel or oil is, so a system that is low on charge **has a leak**. Adding refrigerant without finding and repairing that leak treats the symptom, vents the new charge over the following weeks, and costs you the same money again next season. It is also regulated. Only Section 608 certified technicians may purchase refrigerants intended for use with stationary refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment. The restriction covers ozone-depleting substances and non-ozone-depleting substitutes — including HFCs — in cylinders, cans or drums. Wholesalers must record the purchaser's name, the date of sale and the quantity. There is one exception that confuses people: small cans of refrigerant for *vehicle* air conditioning are still sold without certification. That exception is for cars and does not extend to the equipment in your house. For new equipment, the 700 GWP limit in force since January 1, 2025 is why current systems ship with R-454B (GWP 465) or R-32 (GWP 675) rather than R-410A (GWP 2088). R-410A inventory built before 2025 can still be legally installed — EPA removed the installation deadline on May 21, 2026. [The full timeline](https://hvacbuddy.shop/refrigerants/). ## How can you verify any of this yourself? Everything regulatory on this site traces to a primary source and carries the date it was read: DOE for efficiency standards, EPA for refrigerants and Section 608, the IRS for tax credits, and ACCA for load calculation. The sources for this page are listed at the end with the date each was consulted. If you find a different figure elsewhere, check two things before deciding which to believe: whether the page says which generation its efficiency metric belongs to, and whether it carries a visible review date. Most of the outdated content in this category fails both tests. Sources (6) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — [Technology Transitions HFC Restrictions by Sector](https://www.epa.gov/climate-hfcs-reduction/technology-transitions-hfc-restrictions-sector) (accessed 2026-08-17) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — [Final Rule: Reconsideration of Certain Regulatory Requirements under the Technology Transitions Provisions of the AIM Act (May 21, 2026) — fact sheet](https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2026-05/fact-sheet-san-12166-technology-transitions-frm.pdf) (accessed 2026-08-17) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — [Technology Transitions GWP Reference Table](https://www.epa.gov/hfcs/technology-transitions-gwp-reference-table) (accessed 2026-08-17) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — [Refrigerant Sales Restriction (Section 608)](https://www.epa.gov/section608/refrigerant-sales-restriction) (accessed 2026-08-17) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — [Frequent Questions on the Phasedown of Hydrofluorocarbons](https://www.epa.gov/hfcs/frequent-questions-phasedown-hydrofluorocarbons) (accessed 2026-08-17) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — [Phaseout of Ozone-Depleting Substances](https://www.epa.gov/ods-phaseout) (accessed 2026-08-17) By [HVACBuddy Editorial Team](https://hvacbuddy.shop/authors/editorial-team/). Last reviewed: 2026-08-18. Verified: 2026-08-17 HVACBuddy publishes independent information. We do not install or service equipment, we do not dispatch contractors, and we do not sell leads. Nothing here is engineering, tax, or legal advice.