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“In the past, most of the economic and environmental liabilities fell on the contractors' shoulders, and they were the least able to absorb it. Now, wholesalers are putting programs together, and programs like ours are paying for refrigerants.

“Contractors see there's an opportunity to offset some of the costs associated with R-22 recovery by selling their used R-22 and doing the right thing environmentally.”

Time Waits for No One

The HVACR contractor could be facing the biggest hit in all of this, if R-22 isn't at acceptable levels during the first year of the phaseout. While it might seem like a smart business move to become an R-22 “speculator,” and hold onto the refrigerant until the price rises, ask yourself whether it's worth the wait. Does your bottom line need the relatively low amount of money you might make by hoarding R-22? And can you devote the time to track it?

Do the right thing — environmentally and strategically. Recover R-22 by the book, and take it to a wholesaler or reclamation facility. It's better to get ahead of the game than to have to play catch up.

DOING THE RIGHT THING

Alan Bishop, national service coordinator, Merit Services, Carrollton, TX, has been using Pure Chem's reclamation services for six months. Previously, the company would recover refrigerant themselves into 30- and 50-pound cylinders, and turn them into the supply houses.

“We'd be paying up to $50 for a 50-pound cylinder. That's a big hit on the bottom line, especially if you have 14 guys doing it two to three times a month,” Bishop asserts.

Merit Services considers individual customer requirements and cost when recommending repair or replacement of older units.

“We can show them the advantages of switching to a higher-efficiency system now, if their budgets allow. We help them see financial impact of increased service requirements of aging systems, and the impact of increased costs for repair,” Bishop says.

“Merit Services will always do what's best for its customers with regards to system age, cost, and efficiency, whether it's R-22 or R-410A.”

Sean Daley, owner, Seasonal Energy Mechanical, Thorndale, PA, used to pay $45 to turn in a 30 pound cylinder at a local distributor. He now gets about $2 per pound from Pure Chem, and he's got plenty to reclaim. Right now, he's in the middle of recovering refrigerant from 1,600 homes at McGuire Air Force Base, Burlington County, NJ. The base's existing homes are being razed, and new ones are to be built in their place.

Daley says he's doing all he can to help customers with old systems understand the wisdom in switching to higher-efficiency, R-410A systems as soon as possible.

The competition in Daley's market is very tough in the tough economy, which he says causes some to ignore refrigerant recovery.

“It's become a bidding war, with everybody trying to lowball everybody else,” he says. “But with what they're charging the customer, I don't know how they can pay their technicians, and I know they can't be reclaiming the refrigerant. By the time they pay for the recovery machines, the refrigerant scales, the cylinders, and technician certification, and then add the time it takes to recover the refrigerant, they can't be making any meaningful profit.”

Kurt Eggert, president, Fire Ice Mechanical, Inc., Bellerose, NY, — the 2007 ContractingBusiness.com Commercial Refrigeration Contractor of the Year — uses a cylinder drop-off program provided by a United Refrigeration branch in Woodside, NY. Up until now, Eggert hasn't used recycled R-22, because he had stocked up on fresh supplies well in advance. Soon, however, the many R-22 systems Fire & Ice technicians have installed will need to be replaced with R-410A equipment, and Eggert intends to keep more reclaimed R-22 on hand.

Eggert predicts more contractors will be more dedicated to refrigerant reclamation as the price of R-22 starts to climb.

“Especially if they want to graduate to larger jobs that require larger refrigerant charges; they need to realize they can get paid for recovering the refrigerant, reclaiming it, and for putting it back in,” Eggert says. “When word gets out that it's a valid way to make money, they'll reclaim more.”

Bob Blanchard, commercial service sales consultant for Busby's, Inc., an Augusta, GA-based commercial contractor, adds a refreshing commentary that gets to the heart of the matter: procrastination.

“Everybody had time to make the recovery process less painful than it's been,” Blanchard says. “The fact that we have very little R-22 recovered, and had 22 years to do it (since the Montreal Protocol), speaks significantly about our reluctance to recover it. We ignored it until two years ago. The 2010 date wasn't a secret.”

Blanchard follows up R-410A equipment proposals to customers with a letter that explains the EPA legislation simply, and states the importance of moving to R-410A systems.

WWW

For an official Environmental Protection Agency brochure related to the R-22 phaseout, visit: contractingbusiness.com/refrigeration/epa_technician_brochure_R22_phaseout_0324

For a listing of EPA-certified refrigerant reclaimers, visit: contractingbusiness.com/refrigeration/epa_list_certified_refrigerant_reclaimers_0324