An air conditioner’s refrigerant acts as a medium to transport heat. Is your current air conditioner a decade old? Older air conditioner models mostly use the R-22 refrigerant that uses Freon as part of its cooling process. Since 2009, this refrigerant has been banned in America from use due to its hazardous effects on the environment. In fact, it contributes to the depletion of the ozone layer. If you decide to buy Daikin aircon, or Panasonic aircon Singapore, the likes of which - especially for Daikin aircon Singapore, that offer newer models, the type of refrigerants they use are usually more environmentally friendly. For example, Daikin uses the R-32 refrigerant, and Mitsubishi uses the R410-A refrigerant. Let’s visit in depth why choosing these refrigerants are ideal! Lower Environmental Impact In countries with tropical climates all-year-round like Singapore, it’s common to turn on the air conditioner all day and night. This means that you’re releasing harmful emissions into the environment, especially if you use the R-22 refrigerant. When you opt for the newer, environmentally refrigerants, they have a significantly lower global warming potential and do not damage the environment as much. Comparatively, however, the R-32 is more environmentally friendly than the R410-A refrigerant. This is because it conveys heat more efficiently and has the ability to lower electricity consumption by up to 10% more than air conditioners using the old R-22 refrigerant, and has a lower global warming potential. The R-32 refrigerant is also a single component refrigerant as compared to the blended refrigerant of R410-A. This makes it easier to recycle. Here’s a cool tip: Daikin became the first in the world to successfully apply the difficult-to-use R-32 refrigerant to air conditioners. Greater Efficiency When you use an evaporator coil and condenser system that utilises the R410-A or R-32 refrigerant, you’re boosting your system’s efficiency. This delivers impeccable cooling capacity and helping you achieve your desired temperature much faster. These refrigerants also offer better air quality, comfort and reliability. Since the refrigerants takes in and gives out more heat than the R-22 refrigerant, it reduces usage costs and the potential of air conditioner compressor burnout. Greater Electricity Savings Since air conditioner efficiency is a huge part of your monthly electricity bill, a higher efficiency translates to more electricity savings. The new refrigerants also cost less than the old R-22 refrigerant. Reduced Refrigerant Usage While the R410-A system uses less refrigerant than the R-22 system, the R-32 system uses 20% less refrigerant charge as compared to the R410-A system. This makes it even more efficient to operate. Ease of Handling By now, you should have an idea that while both newer refrigerants are good choices, the R-32 refrigerant performs better than the R410-A. The R-32 refrigerant is also much easier to handle relative to the R410-A refrigerant. This is because its pressure is higher, making refilling more complicated. Since you need more R410-A during refilling, it also costs less to use the R-32 refrigerant.