Refrigerants are Having a Moment
By
Kiana Kazemi
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Refrigerants are having a moment. IYKYK - but if you don’t know, join the club.
When released into the atmosphere through leaks or improper disposal in your HVAC system, old-school refrigerants trap heat thousands of times more effectively than carbon dioxide, making them a serious driver of climate change.
As the HVAC industry races to phase out high-global-warming-potential refrigerants, we at Harvest are exploring what this shift means for homes, businesses, and the climate.
To start off this mini-series, let’s level set.
If you’re new to the world of refrigerants, we suggest this essential read from our friends at Project Drawdown, who lay out exactly why refrigerants are such a big deal—and what we can do about them.
Tl;dr: Refrigerants are used in air conditioners, refrigerators, and heat pumps to transfer heat. But many of them—especially hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)—are highly potent greenhouse gases.
The good news is, refrigerant management is one of the most effective climate solutions out there. Project Drawdown ranks it as a top priority for reducing emissions, and the industry is finally starting to act.
Refrigerant management can be done in five main ways:
- Lower the demand for using appliances.
- Replace bad refrigerants (like HFCs) with good refrigerants (like CO2).
- Increase appliance efficiency.
- Stop refrigerant leaks from existing appliances.
- Ensure proper disposal of refrigerants when we’re done with them.
While refrigerants might not be as sexy as EVs or as easy to understand as veganism, managing them is one of the most impactful steps we can take to avoid a gnarly future. While phasing out HFCs is key, properly handling existing refrigerants is just as important.
We’ll be back next week with more insights on how the industry is shifting—and what it means for the future of heating and cooling. In the meantime, check out Project Drawdown’s full article here.
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