Arkansas HVACR NewsMagazine November 2025

HVACR NewsMagazine November 2025

Tech News

like R-410A. In 2021, the EPA created a timeline to reduce the production of high-GWP HFCs by 85% over 15 years — not a total ban on production. However, while the importation and manufacturing of the refrigerants themselves won't be banned, there are different rules for the manufacturing, importation, and installation of equipment that uses those high-GWP A2Ls. The EPA published GWP restrictions, ranging from 700 to a mere 150. The EPA also published deadlines for manufacturers to discontinue making equipment and for contractors to stop installing field-assembled equipment. Parts may continue to be manufactured and installed indefinitely. The manufacturing of residential and light commercial split systems with GWPs greater than 700 was discontinued on January 1st, 2025. Those systems can be installed through 2025, but installation will be illegal after January 1st, 2026. Chillers, non-chiller industrial process refrigeration, and some other specialized applications have later dates and may have different GWP limits as well. For example, supermarket rack refrigeration systems with less than 200 pounds of charge have a 300 GWP limit, and those with more than 200 pounds have a 150 GWP limit. Both system types have an installation deadline of January 1st, 2027. Information about different applications and their manufacturing and installation deadlines is available on the EPA's website HERE.

including Don Gillis's tech tip about the changes to tanks, systems, and service procedures. In reality, the transition from R-410A to A2Ls isn't a huge shift in terms of readings and field practices. Compared to the transition from R 22 to R-410A, the operating pressures of R-32 and R-454B are much closer to those of R 410A. Service practices will change minimally if you've already been doing best practices, like performing a nitrogen pressure test or pulling a deep vacuum; they'll just be required now.

Nothing new if we've been following best practices all along. How Parts and Equipment Manufacturers Adapt to A2Ls These changes are a lot to ask of contractors, and manufacturers have had to act quickly to design and manufacture new parts and equipment for the replacement refrigerants. While R-32 and R-454B aren't that much different from R-410A in terms of operating pressures, there are some key differences manufacturers need to design for, especially when it comes to compressors. As Copeland has adapted to the times, they've stuck with their scroll compressor design because of its efficiency and reliability.

Changes to Service Practices

Why Scroll Compressors?

We've covered the changes that come with adopting A2L systems in several tech tips,

Scroll compressors consist of a fixed scroll, which doesn't move, and an orbiting scroll.