Flair 2025 Newsletter

The new year brings with it changes in the air conditioning industry. Effective January 1, 2025, any residential system manufactured in the United States must contain a refrigerant that reduces the GWP (Global Warming Potential) to a maximum of 750. This is a much lower number than the current refrigerant R410 that is used. Although R410 excelled at reducing the ozone depleting effect as compared to R22, R410 has a GWP of 2088. Any new units manufactured will use either R-32 or R-454B. These new refrigerants are classified as an A2L refrigerant, having a lower toxicity and lower flammability as compared to propane or natural gas. Because of its being slightly flammable, equipment has to be redesigned to handle the new refrigerant safely with some additional controls. The new refrigerants will perform similarly to R410. Although effective 1/25/2025 new units cannot be manufactured with R410, but there will be a sufficient amount of R410 available for servicing existing systems. This is the 2nd major change in 2 years that the manufacturer had to comply with. The 1st was changing over to the new SEER 2 rating requirement. Servicing equipment with this new refrigerant will require some additional special tools. Rest assured that our installers and technicians have already been trained on these new refrigerants.

NEW TYPE OF AIR CONDITIONING IS GREENER

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has predicted that air conditioning demand will triple by the middle of this century due to Global Warming and income growth in many countries. The IEA has forecast a 45% increase in energy demand for cooling by 2030 compared to 2016 levels. There is a need to ensure this growth is done in an energy efficient way. Barocal, a start-up company in the UK, is using solid material instead of refrigerant gases for cooling and heating. The companies’ baracaloric materials become hotter when pressure increases and cooler when pressure decreases. This is similar to the behavior of refrigerant gases except the solids are said to be more efficient. This is a new technology. Vapor compression has been working the same way for 100 years and over time AC systems have improved a lot and became more efficient. This new technology could be a game changer in improving AC efficiency and lowering energy usage.

Can Holiday Candles Make You Sick?

Our houses have a lot of indoor air pollution, and we should be aware of this because the average person spends 90% of their time indoors. The major cause of poor air quality from candles and scented products is chemicals. Items containing dyes or fragrances can release harmful compounds into the air. Burning these chemicals with scented candles can exacerbate the issue, especially for individuals that are vulnerable such as young children and older adults with asthma. Lead was banned in 2003 for candles manufactured in the United States. Imported candles may not meet these standards. Enjoy the holidays and scents but be aware of indoor pollution that could possibly occur.

Artificial Plants Purify Indoor Air

Scientists at Binghampton University are developing an easier way to make simple improvements to indoor air quality. They have created a kind of artificial plant that can consume carbon dioxide and release oxygen. They constructed an artificial plant with five leaves made of biological solar cells. It works using a kind of indoor photosynthesis that is powered by a photosynthetic bacteria called cyanobacteria. Indoor light hits these bacteria, and they can convert cardon dioxide and water into oxygen. The leaves consist of an anode that contains cyanobacteria, a cathode plus an ion exchange membrane. The leaves can reduce carbon dioxide levels in a room by as much as 90%. Natural plants only lower carbon dioxide by about 10%. This plant also creates about 140 microwatts of energy. Power generation could be a secondary use, but it could eventually be used as a system to store energy of charged devices.

2025

As we enter into the new year 2025, Flair will be celebrating our 58th year in business. During these 58 years we have seen numerous changes in the HVAC industry. We’ve seen refrigerants used in systems change from R-22 to R-410 and now R-454B. We’ve seen minimum efficiency ratings change from 8.00 SEER – 13 SEER. We’ve also seen many companies come and go. We are very proud to still be in business and we thank our customers for giving us the opportunity to serve their air conditioning and heating needs. We sincerely appreciate your business.

Sincerely,
Thomas P. McGuire
President