What's new with Heat Pumps?

The industry is Marching towards the January 1st, 2025 deadline for the switch from 410a refrigerant to R-32/R-454b. What does that mean for you as a consumer? Here's a list of the pros and cons:

1. Pros

   1. The refrigerant is more friendly to the environment because of its chemical makeup.

   2. It uses roughly 40% less energy to provide heating and cooling from heat pumps

   3. The heat pump efficiency is greater, so the outdoor heat pump can handle down to 5 degrees outdoor temp with the Bosch Ultra IDS. Whereas the older units were efficient to an outdoor temp of 40 degrees.

2. Cons

   1. There are more electrical components than the 410a units, which means there are just more things that can go wrong.

   2. The old adage "Give me the devil I know vs. the devil I don't," plays a big part here because even the manufacturers engineers won't know exactly how to help the service techs on the phone. There will be a huge learning curve that will take time.

   3. R-32 refrigerant has roughly 5% propane so no one knows if this will play a major role in insurance costs due to fires or not.

Will the consumer still be able to get 410 refrigerant or equipment via there preferred company? Yes, however, they will slowly start phasing out the equipment and refriegerant over time.