“It is surprising how many customers are still unprepared for the R22 phase out despite the many warnings across the industry,” says Ken Logan, Managing Director, A-Gas (UK) Ltd. His remarks followed the RAC exhibition where A-Gas exhibited and used the opportunity to talk to many customers and suppliers.
Visitors from food, processing and manufacturing industries visited the A-Gas stand and discussions focused on HCFC Phase Out, Refrigerant Banking Services, R22 Replacements and Recovery services. Some customers are planning to rely on existing refrigerants until the complete ban on recycled material by 2015. But, the real surprise though, was that some enquiries came from the HVAC industry itself, with some companies unaware of their options or the timescales.
“Many of the visitors were confused and hadn’t realised that the 2015 deadline may even be brought forward and businesses are fast running out of time” confirms John Ormerod A-Gas’ Business Development Manager and adds “There’s still a lot of R22 in use that has yet to come back for recycling and customers need to act now.”
Customers were also unaware banking genuine recycled refrigerants was an option and were warned that stocks and prices are creeping up substantially for recycled material as the deadline moves closer.
“The industry has for a number of years been issuing regular updates on the virgin HCFC use ban and as suppliers we regularly liaise with our distributors but it seems that the message simply isn’t being taken on board by some end users and there will be some businesses put at a substantial disadvantage.”
Refrigerant banking enables businesses to put in place a solution that best suits their requirements. Banking buys time and provides continuity and security of supply.
Although A-Gas does have some spare recycled refrigerant available for those companies that do not have a banking contract. Users need to talk to their distributors and act swiftly if they do not want to be compromised and face more costly alternatives.
Well aware of the need to help users through what may for some be a difficult transition depending on the quantities of refrigerants involved and complexities of plant, A-Gas can offer technical advice and take customers through the options. These can include refrigerant banking, to re-cycling, ‘drop-in’ replacements and natural refrigerants to cylinder recovery and the separation of refrigerant mixes with its patented fractional distillation technology.
Meeting customers and end users at RAC has strengthened relationships and provided A-Gas with a valuable platform to increase awareness and reach those who have yet to prepare for the phase out.
