Do you need your air conditioner repaired, serviced or regassed?
All servicing and repairs must be completed by a technician that holds a full refrigeration and air conditioning licence. They have the correct qualifications to undertake the work required, including work involving handling of refrigerant. The reason that your unit may need servicing or repair could be due to an issue with the components that hold and/or transport the refrigerant within the unit, causing the refrigerant to leak out of the system. If a leak exists, all affected parts must be repaired or replaced before the unit can be refilled with refrigerant.
You can find an appropriately authorised business to service and/or repair your split-system air conditioner on this website here.
The refrigerant in modern split-system air conditioners is a potent greenhouse gas. One kilogram of the most common gas, R410a, has the same global warming impact as two tonnes of carbon dioxide – like driving a four-cylinder car for six months. Therefore, the first priority is to ensure that this refrigerant does not escape into the atmosphere. Licensed technicians and authorised businesses have the skills and must operate to mandated standards to ensure that the emissions of these gases are minimised.
Do I need to use a licensed technician if I only have an old air conditioner?
In older units or units using older designs that still use R22, the refrigerant is both a synthetic greenhouse gas and an ozone depleting substance, which means that the environment is harmed in two ways through the release of these substances.
If refrigerant is allowed to leak from your air conditioner during installation and maintenance, not only is the refrigerant doing direct environmental damage but the system will use more electricity as it works harder to deliver the same amount of heating or cooling with less refrigerant. This increases your electricity bill, shortens the life of your equipment and does unnecessary damage to the environment.
What should I do with an old air conditioner?
If you decide to throw out an air conditioner that is no longer working, there may still be refrigerant inside the unit. If the unit is not disposed of properly, then the refrigerant may escape into the atmosphere, which will contribute to global warming. Before you place the air conditioner in your hard rubbish collection or take it to the tip, you’ll need to have the refrigerant ‘recovered’ from the unit by a licensed technician. The recovered refrigerant is forwarded by the licensed technician to Refrigerant Reclaim Australia (RRA) which is the sole facility in Australia approved to destroy refrigerants in an environmentally friendly manner.
