Hvac School - For Techs, By Techs

In this podcast from AHR 2023, Brandon Marshall from Chemours and Chris Forth from JCI talk about the future of refrigerants and Opteon XL41 (R-454B). Refrigerant regulations are changing to pave the way for lower-GWP refrigerants, but M1 is also in full swing. M1 refers to the U.S. Department of Energy's implementation of the new efficiency standards for A/C units and heat pumps (SEER2, EER2, etc.). These standards changed the equipment testing procedure to match field conditions more closely. Opteon is the next-generation portfolio of low-GWP refrigerants for Chemours as a successor to the legacy refrigerants in the Freon product line. These refrigerants are a response to the HFC phasedown outlined in the AIM Act. JCI chose to use Opteon XL41, an HFO, for its equipment due to Opteon XL41's low GWP compared to R-32 and because of the similar operating pressures and temperatures to R-410A. A2Ls are a permanent change in the industry, and their safety considerations and best practices are here to stay. However