AC REFRIGERANTS COMPARISON R32 VS R410A VS R22 VS R290 AND OZONE DEPLETION

Hi Friends, today I am going to take you through a very important know how discussion which might help you to improve your AC performance in the long run.

This topic is a little technical in depth and knowledge, but still if you are able to learn a few little key points then you are good to go.

You must have called your AC maintenance person at some of time or the other. It could be during an AMC servicing or may be when your AC was not working properly.

During the servicing period, you must have heard that your AC is not cooling properly and it requires filling up the gas. Now what is this gas all about ? How does it cools your AC.

Now this gas, also called refrigerant is a form of fluid/gas/liquid that is used in air conditioning systems and your refrigerators. Infact, without it your refrigerator or air conditioner will not work properly.

Your air conditioner contains refrigerant inside the condenser coils. The refrigerant absorbs the heat from the room and ventilates it outside of your room into the open air.

During this time it transforms through the liquid to the gaseous state. When the compressor functions it transit back to its liquid state. This cycle repeats itself while cooling.

Air conditioner manufacturer mostly use some common type of air conditioners used worldwide. Each refrigerant has its own ozone depletion potential factors towards global warming.

The non corrosive properties of a refrigerant mainly determines the quality of its gas, along with its safely features. Lets know about them in brief.

·         CFCs or Chlorofluorocarbons : At one point of time CFC or R12 was considered as one of the most common CFC’s that was named Feron. But nowadays Chloflurocarbons are one of the main causes of the greenhouse effect causing the depletion of the ozone layer.

·         HCFCs or Hydrochlorofluorocarbons : Nowadays R22 is the most commonly used HCFC used in 50-60% air conditioners in India. These came as a better substitute to the CFC since the later contain chlorine which is toxic and dangerous for the green environment.

But there is a downside to it as well. Due to its possible threat for ozone depletion, HCFC is very likely to become obsolete by the year 2030 as per the new initiatives of the Indian government. So please make a note that if you see R22 mentioned in the label, it is better to refrain yourself from buying the product.

·         HFCs or Hydrofluorocarbons : With the due course of time, chlorine gets accumulated in the refrigerant. So to cope up with this issue, manufacturers came up with the HFC refrigerant.

This refrigerants came as a better came as a better substitute to the HCFC as they do not deplete the ozone layer.

Most of the air conditioners in India commonly use the R-32 and R-410A. Whereas R-134A is the most commonly used HFC’s in the refrigerators in India. But on the hindsight HFC’s will be phased out very soon.

·         HC or Hydrocarbons

HC or Hydrocarbon refrigerants are the most commonly used refrigerants nowadays in India. R-290 and R-600A are the HCs whose chemical names are Propane for R-290 and Iso-Butane for R600A.

These completely free from halogen , are the most eco friendly refrigerants in the market. Since these are made of hydrocarbons, they have no ozone depletion potential, and they have the lowest potential of global warming.

The best part of it is that there had been no major accidents reported by this refrigerant which makes it widely accepted in India.

·         R32 Vs R410A

R32 is been used by most of the air conditioner manufacturers at the moment. R32 has a global warming potential of 675. This refrigerant is three times lower in magnitude than the global warming potential of R410A.

In comparison to that R32 is more energy efficient, because of which it is mostly wised in the best brand inverter air conditioners.

R410A is a combination of two HFC refrigerants such as R32 and R125. This is very eco-friendly refrigerant as well.

Presently all leading air conditioning manufacturers like Samsung, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Daikin, Panasonic, and Sharp to name a few  are using R-410A as a refrigerant which helps them to maintain the industry safety standards and also gives them a cutting edge in the cut throat market.

·         R-22 V/S R-290A

R22 is the most widely used HCFC filled in 50% to 60% of Indian air conditioners. For the global threat to the ozone depletion, R22 HCFC refrigerants are expected to be phased out by the year 2030 from India.

So our recommendation to you would be not to buy the air conditioner which is using R-22 as a refrigerant.

R-290 is the most eco-friendly bio diversity refrigerant available in India at the moment.R-290 refrigerants are energy efficient as well.

What is the cause of the depletion of Ozone layer?

There could be several reasons for the depletion of the ozone layer. Environmental pollution from the industries increasing the toxic in the atmosphere is a major influential factor to this climatic change.

The ozone layer is very important for maintaining the atmospheric balance. The ozone layer effectively blocks almost all solar radiation of wavelengths less than 290 nanometres from reaching Earth’s surface.

The amount of ozone layer is directly proportionate to the global warming and the glacial melting of the earth.

Hence, removing the ozone layer depletion should be our prime responsibility towards the mankind and the mother earth.

As a part of our own responsibility, we should start using air conditioners with eco friendly refrigerants like R290 and R600A respectively.

As the demand for air conditioners is on a gradual rise, Manufacturers will quickly switch over to eco-friendly refrigerants from CFC, HFC, and HCFC and so on and so forth.

Final words or Conclusion :

Air conditioners get the cooling capacity with the help of the refrigerants.

Apart from the 3-4 months of winter, summer in India starts from March and lasts until late October. With massive global warming and weather changes it is almost becoming impossible to keep your family protected without the AC.

With summers lasting long in India, it is almost out of the question to live without an AC for your family.

Still, it is recommended to have a look at the type of refrigerant when you buy an air conditioner.

Also, consider that an out dated refrigerant will lead you to higher electric bills

Hopefully, the above information will be helpful for you to choose the right refrigerant for your family.