From 1st January 2020, new regulations state that certain equipment containing R404a gas can no longer be repaired or serviced with fresh gas. If you rely on equipment containing 404a, you may need to upgrade or replace it.
If you rely on equipment that uses R404a refrigerant, you could be impacted by new regulations that come into force from 1st January 2020.
If your equipment contains over 10.2kg of R404a refrigerant, it is no longer permitted to refill/top it up with fresh (virgin) R404a gas.
When refrigeration equipment is repaired or serviced, it’s commonly required to remove/replace/top-up refrigerant with fresh gas. As this is no longer permitted, equipment may be rendered irreparable by minor issues.
The biggest risk here is extended downtime. Items containing over 10.2kg of refrigerant tend to be of a reasonable size and importance – for example, cold rooms, retail refrigeration and some cellar coolers. It’s likely that downtime of the above would either immobilise or substantially inconvenience an organisation, with costs of lost stock/earnings being a consideration.
For this reason, it may be worth reviewing if your equipment is affected and assessing if any action is necessary.
Yes, but none as common as R404a. We’ve written an in-depth article about the new regulations and how to identify if your systems are affected – we can help with this. You can read it here.
Some equipment can be retro-fitted with gas conversion kits, meaning you can change from R404a to an unrestricted refrigerant with a lower global warming potential.
Depending on the situation, it may be advisable/the only option to replace the equipment entirely. We can advise on this.
To learn more about the R404a refrigerant ban & F-gas in general, read our blog article on the topic here.
You are not affected by the 2020 regulation changes and regular servicing is unaffected. However, there are several considerations that you should be aware of:
1. Whilst similar restrictions on smaller R404a equipment have not yet been announced, they are expected in the coming years.
2. The manufacturing of R404a refrigerant itself continues to be restricted as government quotas are placed on production. This poses a risk to the cost & availability of R404a for maintenance purposes. For example, between January 2017 & January 2018, R404a quota reductions resulted in an industry-wide supply/demand imbalance and a significant 1017% price rise to R404a refrigerant. Another quota reduction has been announced for 2021, which will reduce R404a production by a further 40%. We can’t predict exactly what effect this will have as prices have currently stabilised, but we are now advising customers to put plans in place to upgrade or phase out all R404a equipment over the coming years, as the cost and risks of maintaining equipment are expected to increase.
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