With the recent “phase-out” of R410A refrigerant and the incoming R454B, propane-based, highly-flammable refrigerant, owners of R410A air conditioning and heat pump systems are going to experience a sharp increase in their HVAC costs in the very near future.
2 years ago, a good customer with a large office space agreed with my recommendation to buy a complete R410A air handler after I discovered the Electronic Commutated Motor (ECM) that drives the blower, if bought separately, would cost more than a new, complete air handler with the same ECM blower motor. Yes, a new air handler that includes the outer jacket, 2 circuit boards and transformer, blower with ECM motor, hot water coil and air conditioning evaporator coil would cost less than the ECM motor by itself! My customer wisely took my advice and we had a complete air handler shipped to the office. I removed the blower assembly with ECM motor and circuit boards from the new air handler and put those parts directly into the 8-year-old air handler. The system was again up and running. That’s the good news. Now here’s the bad news.
Fast-forward to a month ago in July of 2025. The air conditioning zones served by the old handler were not cooling. The airflow was minimal and the question remained: why?
With typical troubleshooting protocol, I identified the reasons for cooling failure: the evaporator temperature was low enough for the after-market freeze-stat (switch) to open and prevent the condenser from running and the evaporator from freezing solid like a block of ice. Condensate from humidity in the airstream condenses on a cold evaporator and freezes like an old Norge Refrigerator/Freezer that needs defrosting, so airflow can again flow through the fins of the evaporator coil. There was a problem, though: someone had mis-wired the freeze-stat, so instead of the condenser being de-energized, the call for cooling was interrupted, shutting everything down, including the blower. This would not necessarily be a problem, but for the fact, the freeze-stat would not close (reset) once the coil temperature rose and condensate wouldn’t freeze on the evaporator.
Because there was a low-pressure switch wired in series with the compressor contactor low-voltage side, I removed the defective freeze-stat. With the freeze-stat removed, I allowed the system to run so I could check the high and low refrigerant pressures at the condenser on the roof. The low pressure dropped to 98 PSI and the high pressure rose to 550 PSI. Things were definitely wrong!
The evaporator was too cold due to too low refrigerant pressure (blue gauge), which was due to a refrigerant leak, or insufficient airflow through the evaporator coil, possibly, due to a dirty evaporator coil and/or too little Cubic Feet Per Minute (CFM) of air volume moving through the coil and rest of the duct system and air handler.
On the high pressure side of things (red gauge), it was 90-degrees F on the roof, the condenser coil was a bit dirty and an unnecessary plastic fin protector surrounding the coil was inhibiting airflow through the condenser coil. Given, this condenser was on a roof away from kids who seem to love to flatten condenser fins, ruining condensers that are on the ground near public walkways, the fin-protector was not needed for its intended purpose. I removed the fin protector and cleaned the coil. This lowered the high pressure to 450 PSI.
I added some refrigerant, but the low pressure (blue gauge) did not rise. This ruled out a refrigerant leak. After recovering 100% of the refrigerant, I removed the evaporator. Sure enough, it and the hot water coil were dirty. Rather than cleaning them, I replaced both coils with the new ones in the new air handler. In fact, I replaced the entire air handler with the new one and I resolved one more obvious defect in the system design/installation. I replaced the bad factory-designed air filter system with a new E-Z Flex filter cabinet/5-inch thick media filter made by Carrier – one of the best product lines in the business.
Once everything was back together, the low pressure had risen to 125 PSI. While this was significantly better, it should be near 150 PSI. Something was still wrong. Can you spot it in this image?:
The HVAC contractor for the fit-up of the office didn’t properly design and install the ducts, especially on the Supply side. The Supply Plenum (connected to the top of the air handler) was reduced by fabricating a trapezoidal-shape instead of a rectangular-shape plenum – this kills airflow immediately as it leaves the plenum. The airflow through the system slows due to increased static pressure in the ducts – like when you kink a garden hose, its pressure increases. On the Return side of the system the ducts are not much better. A 1-2-3 punch was delivered when the installers did a poor and ineffective job insulating the ducts in an attic where summer temperatures can reach 120-degrees F, and winter temps can sink to the 30s! This further limits the cooling and heating capacity of the system. The only solution to this is to redesign the entire duct system layout, replace the existing system and re-insulate to a higher R-value – thicker insulation. This would be very costly, especially since there is no catwalk in the attic, nor lighting.
I put the system components back together and installed a new low-pressure switch so the evaporator won’t freeze up. Still, the duct issues remain and the system will never see true rated capacity in practice. That said, all the changes were for the better and I haven’t heard any complaints about the indoor air temperature since I made the observations and repairs. So, it seems like the fix is not the best, but it is satisfactory.
You might be wondering: “Isn’t this post supposed to be about why air conditioning is about to become more expensive?” Well, with the back story out of the way, let’s dive into the reality behind this post’s title and my assertions.
Results from my Internet search: “What is the code or law that mandates a change to R454B from R410A?“
R454B to R410A Law
The primary law mandating the change from R-410A to lower-global-warming-potential (GWP) refrigerants like R-454B in the United States is the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act, which was signed into law in December 2020. This act requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), including R-410A, by 85% over the next 15 years. The EPA finalized a rule in July 2023 to implement this reduction, effectively phasing out the use of high-GWP HFCs like R-410A in new equipment. The transition is also supported by the Montreal Protocol Kigali Amendment, an international treaty that aims to phase down HFCs globally, setting standards for the reduction of HFC production and consumption.
Did you pick up on what’s at the heart of this new law? I hope so. Tyranny, and there is a lot more coming our way in all western nations.
No matter what you believe, know, have researched, or what version of the science you base your beliefs on, you must now conform to the fraud that says the “globe” is warming and it is because of manmade causes, including your heating and air conditioning systems.
Climate Change, Global Warming, Extreme Weather Events, C02 and refrigerants as Greenhouse Gasses with high Global Warming Potential… these are all your fault and that of every other mammal that exhales on earth. Soon, we will be paying a carbon tax.
They say that methane is so much worse than C02, but a similar flammable gas such as propane isn’t?
I know most people simply do not have time to research the facts; not the truths or the beliefs, or the assumptions, or the new and up-coming laws and rules – the FACTS. Despite the facts, tyrannical government has gone international with the New World Order. Nixon, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, Obama, Trump…they all keep using the phrase: New World Order, as do other foreign and domestic politicians. Once the majority find out when it is here and fully implemented, it will be too late to do anything about it. One World Government is being put in place before our very eyes and ears, though 90% of humans do not know this.
Some of you might be asking: “Isn’t suggesting that our government is out to enslave us a far stretch from a simple little change in refrigerants used for heating and cooling?”
No. Not at all!
World Government bodies have instituted a massive change in the HVAC industry and the manufacturers are all in on it, further eroding our constitutional rights in America, and forcing us to heed the diktats of Fascism.
The new requirements for new low-GWP refrigerants don’t stop there. They no longer make R410A equipment! This means that when the ECM motors in your air handlers and heat pumps and condensers fail, you can’t just buy a new R410A air handler, heat pump or condenser. Nope! You will have to spring for a new R454B air handler, heat pump or condenser, and that means you will have to pair the new replacement R454B unit with other R454B counterpart units – a new air handler replacement will also mean you will need a new condenser, even if there is nothing wrong with the condenser! Plus, you will likely need to replace the refrigerant lines in between. Are you beginning to see where this is going?
If your ECM motor fails, you will be able to buy another ECM motor, but that motor will cost more than the whole air handler that you were once able to buy in the R410A option. And when the evaporator in the air handler gets dirty, you can’t replace it with like kind. Yes, you can remove it and clean it then re-install it, but that’s a lot of expensive work. This post started as an example of what I was able to do just weeks ago, since my customer bought a (better value) complete air handler a couple years back, but that is no longer an option today. You can no longer buy a new R410A air handler, evaporator coil, condenser or a combination of any of those things, only used equipment. There’s virtually no more new inventory for 410A equipment.
But the extorsion doesn’t stop there. Oh no. Since R454B is basically propane, to make it “safe” to use as a refrigerant in residential, commercial and industrial buildings, there is a litany of additional components (primarily circuit boards and sensors) that must be installed so propane doesn’t explode or ignite or, otherwise, leak into your building and your breathing space. This has driven the cost of new refrigerant-based heating and air conditioning equipment way up!
Refrigerant leaks are quite commonplace in HVAC, so propane will be no different. To deal with this, there are now more requirements that HVAC systems installers must comply with to mitigate the effects of leaks. There needs to be enough air volume in all HVAC zones to dilute the propane in the event of a leak, to avoid explosion, fire and poisoning. But it doesn’t stop there… without going down the whole list, which I’m not even completely familiar with yet, there are a lot of other new rules that HVAC personnel must comply with. Inadequate ducts will need to be replaced with ones that meet the guidelines/requirements for the new refrigerant air handlers. Otherwise, the new system won’t work. No unapproved parts will be allowed. Again, I’m not completely up to speed with all of this, since I am only now installing a R454B system. Studying the installation manual and other printed documents that came with a new A/C system with R454B equipment is quite revealing. I will know more, soon.
Also, it is possible that HVAC technicians who were not already licensed to work on propane heating systems, will be required to become licensed to work on propane based R454B air conditioning systems. It is logical to expect this, since it has been a requirement since Amelia’s Law (New Hampshire House Bill 1711) passed and took effect in 2007. All who work on propane and natural gas heating systems must comply with Amelia’s Law in New Hampshire.
All of this is going to make the cost of heating and air conditioning expensive beyond anything we’ve ever seen. And, there’s the rub. The One World Government that is already in charge, whether you know it or not, wants us all to go broke, so we will “own nothing and be happy!“
Your new ruler:
Please don’t shoot the messenger! If you thought Smart Meters starting house fires was scary, just wait until propane heating and air conditioning systems start blowing up and burning them down! It is a forgone conclusion that R454B/propane will be leaking out of systems, refrigerant bottles, testing equipment… every time a refrigerant hose is connected to and disconnected from air conditioning and heat pumps, just as much as all other refrigerants in history have leaked. Only now, these leaks will consist of flammable/explosive gas! This is going to create a spike in civil litigation and insurance claims. Buildings will burn to the ground. Personal injury will rise. People will be killed. Property and livelihoods will be destroyed. Manufacturers of propane-based refrigerants and associated equipment will become richer than ever. We will pay the price and they will reap the benefits. And the media will cover it up.
