Dr. Chuck's Corner: The Importance of Knowledge and Trust When Sourcing Refrigerant
As the adage says, “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten”.
When it comes to sourcing refrigerants, the oft-repeated advice to “do business with a supplier you know and trust” never gets old. Particularly during times of transition, like today, there are individuals that seek to take advantage of the situation by offering illegal, poor quality, or, even counterfeit, refrigerants.
You may have seen recent stories in the news about enforcement activity around illegal refrigerant sales. We can expect these activities to continue. It’s also worth
noting that although our discussion here focuses on refrigerants, other HVACR component suppliers have, from time to time, also needed to deal with this problem.
HVACR contractors should take several steps to protect customers, employees, and their business reputation:
1. Educate yourself and your team – Know what legitimate product and packaging looks like and how to verify it’s legit. If you see something, say something. Major refrigerant manufacturers have adopted measures and have verification procedures in place.
2. Beware of “too-good-to-be-true” deals – Be familiar with current industry pricing, and exercise caution, especially when pricing appears out of line. Be especially wary of internet “deals”.
3. Always use trusted suppliers – Counterfeit, illegal, or poor-quality refrigerant can come in many varieties—including illegally imported product, mislabeled or misbranded cylinders, or inferior quality. Plus, any of these variations can potentially cause your customers’ systems to run poorly or fail prematurely which, consequently, will damage your reputation, impact your bottom line, or compromise the safety of your employees.
As the lifeblood of any HVACR system, the refrigerant is critical to performance. We all need to be as vigilant sourcing refrigerant as we are when sourcing any other mission-critical component.
Dr. Charles "Chuck" Allgood is Refrigerants Technology Leader for Chemours.