Ask three people about the R-410A phase out and you may get three different answers, and one of them may be a salesperson standing in your kitchen. The Refrigerant Changeover sorts out what the federal rules actually require of a homeowner, which is much less than most people have been told, and shows how to read a repair or replacement quote with that in mind.
The Refrigerant Changeover, Maurice Johnson's 2026 field guide for homeowners on R-410A, R-454B and reading a repair quote. 85 pages in all: 22 chapters and four appendices. The file starts downloading as soon as you tap the button.
Get the PDF nowHouston Air & Heating hands the book out because the questions in it come up on hot Houston afternoons, when an air conditioner has quit and a decision feels urgent. Below you will find what each part of the book covers, the main rules checked again against current EPA and IRS pages, and what they mean when a quote lands on your table.
The R-410A phase out, in the book's own order
The book's central point is that most articles blur three separate things: manufacturing a new unit, putting a unit into a house, and fixing the one already there. The rules treat each one differently.
- Building new equipmentNewly built home and light commercial cooling and heat pump systems must use a refrigerant whose global warming potential (GWP) is under the EPA's limit of 700. GWP compares how much heat a gas traps with the same amount of carbon dioxide. The book lists R-410A at 2,088, R-454B at 466 and R-32 at 675, which is why new systems moved to the last two.
- Installing itAn EPA final rule signed in May 2026 removed the January 1, 2026 installation date for systems built entirely from components produced or brought into the country before 2025. That lets distributors keep selling and contractors keep installing older R-410A stock.
- Servicing what you ownRepairing and recharging an installed system was not restricted by these rules. The book puts it simply: a failed compressor or coil can be replaced with an R-410A part.
A second, separate program comes from the AIM Act. Under it, the EPA is shrinking the supply of HFC refrigerants step by step until 2036, when it reaches 15 percent of the historic baseline. EPA's schedule holds at 60 percent of baseline from 2024 through 2028, then drops to 30 percent from 2029 through 2033, 20 percent in 2034 and 2035, and 15 percent from 2036 on. The book reads this as service prices that rise in jumps, with the 2029 step the one to watch, not as a date when repairs stop. It also notes that reclaimed refrigerant, recovered from old systems and cleaned, does not count against those limits.
One line in the book is worth knowing before any quote: when both the outdoor condenser and the indoor coil are swapped at once, EPA treats the job as a new installation, not a repair, and the new-equipment rules apply. Swapping one broken component is still a repair. Told that a part "can't be replaced anymore"? The book's advice is to ask exactly which part and on what basis.
What is inside, chapter by chapter
Its epigraph is a verse from Proverbs about hearing the other side before judging a case, and the whole book follows that habit: go to the rule itself, then test what others claim it says.
The rules (chapters 1 to 4, 14, 16)
How the 2026 installation deadline was set, softened and then removed; what the 700 GWP limit restricts and why R-454B and R-32 replaced R-410A; the stepped phasedown; and the outlook for R-410A supply for repairs. Chapter 16 covers what is still unsettled, including a court challenge, and how to check the EPA's own pages yourself.
The money (chapters 5, 6, 10, 19)
The reasons per-pound refrigerant figures online range so far apart (a wholesale price, a marked-up price and a price that folds in labor all get the same label), reported costs for new systems, the federal 25C credit ending, and what the SEER2, EER2 and HSPF2 numbers on a quote mean for your power bill.
The decision (chapters 7, 9, 12, 13, 21, 22)
Typical equipment lifespans and the signs that actually call for replacement, why a Manual J load calculation matters more than the refrigerant, treating a leak as the real problem, keeping a system healthy, why heat pumps keep coming up in quotes, and what to do when the AC dies in the middle of summer.
The people and the paperwork (chapters 8, 11, 15, 17, 18, 20)
R-454B versus R-32, choosing a contractor and spotting pressure tactics, buying or selling a house with an older system, a "what to do Monday morning" checklist, what the earlier R-22 phase out teaches, and ductwork. Appendices give a timeline, questions to ask in each situation, the published price figures side by side, and where to verify the rules.
Three ideas from the book that help with a Houston quote
Low refrigerant means a leak
The book's chapter on leaks starts from a simple fact: refrigerant circulates in a closed loop and is never consumed. If the charge is low, it escaped somewhere, and topping it up without finding the leak buys a few months at best. The question it suggests asking is where the leak is and whether it can be repaired so it lasts. The AC not cooling guide covers the safe checks to do first, starting with the air filter.
Sizing beats brand
An oversized system cools the air quickly and shuts off before it removes much moisture, which in a humid climate like Houston's leaves a house cool but clammy. The book urges homeowners to ask for a Manual J load calculation done in the house, to see the result, and to question a proposed size well above it. The AC installation page explains what a complete replacement quote should list.
Urgency is a signal
The final chapter speaks to the moment many Houston homeowners know well: the system fails in August and a large decision has to be made in a hot house. The book's advice is to get the failed part named and the diagnosis in writing, ask whether a repair will reliably get you through the season, and still ask for model numbers, a load calculation and the labor warranty before signing. It also notes that if seniors, small children or anyone heat sensitive is in the house, speed matters more than savings.
Checked against current rules
Because these rules have changed several times, the regulatory points on this page were checked again on October 8, 2026 against the sources listed below:
- The EPA's sector table lists a 700 GWP limit for new home and light commercial cooling and heat pump systems.
- An EPA final rule signed in May 2026 and published in the Federal Register that month removes the January 1, 2026 installation compliance date for equipment manufactured or imported before January 1, 2025; the EPA's regulatory actions page lists Technology Transitions rulemakings, and industry press covered the change.
- The EPA says the AIM Act phases HFCs down to 15 percent of historic baseline levels by 2036, in steps.
- Under EPA's Section 608 sales restriction, refrigerant for home systems can only be bought by certified technicians or their employers. Homeowners cannot buy it to recharge a system themselves.
- The IRS says the section 25C Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit is not allowed for property placed in service after December 31, 2025.
Cost figures in the book are reported as other sources published them, not as the book's own estimates, and they are national figures. Real quotes in Houston vary with the house, the equipment and the company. For what drives a local repair price, read the AC repair cost guide, and for the bigger choice, the repair or replace guide.
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