Don't know how many of you are aware but the AC gas which is fitted to a vast majority of cars these days has rocketed in price.
This time last year I could buy a 12.5 Kg bottle for roughly £50 plus VAT.
My latest bottle has almost cost me £400 and it's not due to finish there!
It would seem that according to my supplier the government have increased the VAT in an attempt to stop the usage of the gas which is obviously not great for the envirompnment if leaked.
So given the price if you were to need 650 grams it will increase your AC service by roughly £50 just for the gas......Some cars systems hold a lot more.
If you're thinking about having our AC done get it done now before the price rockets again.
FFF
Yep. I bought a bottle at £55+. literally a day or two later I had a call from another centre that the had been quoted £325. I assumed they must have been quoting for 1234yf as I didn’t know what bottle size he was referring to. After ringing all of our suppliers and some account managers it was clear we weren’t getting anywhere. 4 weeks later we were told it’s going up again. It’s still half the price of 1234yf.....for now!
R134a has a global warming potential of 1430. Carbon dioxide has a global warming potential of 1.
Probably goes a long way to explaining it.
Well.....that's it then
Will be selling BitCoin and getting into this refrigerant stuff....
Possibly but when it's fitted to a huge number of cars still it's still a kick in the nads for owners and garages alikeOriginally Posted by noTAGlove
We just had a leak at work, £1500 for one nut and a refill
For a building AC system?
Yes, they are saying all refrigerant has gone up 600% over the last year.
You wait till you see the price of this stuff they're putting in new cars
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2,3,...ite_note-CEN-2
Yeh it's been in some cars a few years now...shocking price.
Only two companies actually produce the gas. Different names and locations, but guess what? Follow the links and they both lead to being owned by one major player manipulating the market.
The price of HFC refrigerants have gone up because of the EU F Gas regs 'Phase Down'. Its basically putting a cap on production of HFC's with higher GWP (Global Warming Potential) values to encourage the use of refrigerants with a lower GWP. Because of this the price of refrigerants, particularly R134A and R404A has increased at a ridiculous rate over the past 12-18 months. This limit of production and importation changes every year so the less you sell one year, the less you are allowed to sell the following year.
If only it was as simple as that bud. Yes you have to replace the refrigerant and the nut but you have to recover the old refrigerant (if there is any left), find the leak, repair it, pressure test the system (iaw BS EN 378) using Oxygen Free Nitrogen and vacuum the system out to 2 Torr before refilling it and testing it. Depending on the size of the system the pressure testing and recharge could take a few hours to a few days, possibly longer if the pressure test fails. Then it costs to dispose of the old refrigerant and if it needs oil then that too will cost.
It was a Daikin split inverter, it had emptied itself all over the suspended ceiling, so it was fairly obvious, they did a nitrogen pressure test, start to finish was 2.5 hours.
I am about to do a new building and keep wondering if there is a practical alternative to air-con but don't think so.
Daikin supply some great systems and from the 2.5 hours you quoted i'm assuming they had the capacity to isolate the inverter but if it has lost its charge they really should have vacc'ed it down after a pressure test. To be honest, depending on the size of the system it might have taken 2.5 hours to pressure test it correctly. Anyway, not trying to critisize an engineer but if you are looking at doing a new building and you are not keen on air-con, again, depending on the size you may want to have a look at heat pumps. If aircon is the way forward, try to future proof the system. Where the high GWP refrigerants are going up in price to try to encourage the use of lower GWP refrigerants, the price of those refrigerants whilst not falling are lower. I'd be looking at possibly an R32 system as this seems to be the way a lot of companies are aiming and Daikin, Mitsubishi, Toshiba and others are pushing it. The Mitsubishi hybrid systems are particularly good.
Insist on seeing the machine do its stuff on the recovery phase and also insist on a discount for the gas recovered.
I got 630g recovered on a 700g regas. The gas element was an extra tenner from when I had it done two years back.
B
Thanks Spencer, what is the difference between air-con, and heat pump?
Last edited by adrianw; 22nd June 2018 at 11:34.
Depends what type of heat pump, air source or ground source. I suspect air source would be more suitable as the ground source needs a bit of excavation. Still use refrigerant and you have the capacity to heat as well as cool. They are becoming very popular at the moment as a retro fit option but do a bit of research and have a chat with whoever is doing the install when you discuss the design phase. There are pro's and con's for all of the options but a good site assessment and an honest design that services your requirements should influence your choice. All i will say is that it is an option worth considering along with low carbon energy sources when approaching a new build and i am sure there are financial incentives to encourage it.
The EU requires the gas manufacturers to cut production by 30% each year. Most likely, people will stop repairing their AC with this gas in the future because of the cost.
Maybe there will be some compensation that you can convert to, I do not know.
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