Not yet. But at some point, they will be for a number of reasons. First, the US stopped manufacturing R-22 refrigerant Freon in January 2020, and imposed an “import ban”.  Knowing this ban was approaching for almost a decade, companies had begun stockpiling R-22 refrigerant. Thus, it is available and might be for another decade, but will start to face issues with availability.

Second, when the US adopted the “Montreal Protocol” American manufacturers began switching their manufacturing from R-22 units to R410-a, also known by the brand name Puron.

Here we are 11 years later, and there are tens of millions of properties that use a refrigerant of some sort. 

Why does this matter? 5 years ago, a pound of R-22 cost about $14. If your system lost all its refrigerant, and you needed 10 pounds, the cost was $140. Manageable.

Today, delivered and installed by a qualified AC tech, a pound of R-22 is close to $180 retail. That same unit needing 10 pounds, that could cost the seller (or the buyer who now owns) $1800. Big difference. 

As an agent, it is NOT your obligation to determine the age or refrigerant usage of your seller’s system. It is their obligation. But the older the system, there might be more disclosure obligations. Will every property inspector identify the age and the refrigerant of a system? No. Some will, but mostly that is up to the seller.

Let’s assume that your seller had a new system installed in the spring of 2017. Is that R-22, or R-410a?  Odds are it is the newer refrigerant. But not guaranteed.

Simply put, listing agents, it's a great idea to have a conversation with the seller about the system so that both you and the seller would make the proper disclosures.

Run this through your broker if you are not sure.