Australia has been phasing down the refrigerants that older commercial equipment runs on for the better part of a decade. R22 is no longer imported for new equipment and the small servicing supply is dwindling; the high-global-warming HFC blends that replaced it, R404A above all, are being reduced year by year under the phase-down that began in 2018. For a venue owner the practical effect is simple: when older equipment leaks, the gas to refill it costs more every year, and at some point the repair stops making sense.
What is actually changing
Two separate things are happening. The first is the end of R22, an ozone-depleting refrigerant that was standard in cool rooms and plant installed before around 2010. Imports for new equipment stopped years ago and the remaining supply is limited to servicing existing systems, with prices to match.
The second is the phase-down of hydrofluorocarbons, the family that includes R404A, R134a and R410A. Australia committed to reducing HFC imports step by step from 2018, reaching roughly an 85 per cent cut by 2036. The gases are not banned, but the quantity that can be imported shrinks every few years, and the ones with the highest global warming potential are being displaced first. R404A, with a warming potential close to four thousand times that of carbon dioxide, sits at the top of that list.
Where you will find each gas
| Refrigerant | Typically found in | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|
| R22 | Cool rooms and plant installed before about 2010 | No longer imported for new equipment; servicing supply limited and expensive |
| R404A | Cool rooms, freezers and ice machines from the 2000s and 2010s | Still available but very high warming potential; cost rising under the phase-down |
| R134a | Under-bench units, display cabinets, some ice machines | Common and available; moderate warming potential, also subject to the phase-down |
| R448A / R449A | Newer plant and retrofitted R404A systems | Lower-warming replacements that many R404A systems can be converted to |
| R290 (propane) | Newer self-contained cabinets | Very low warming potential; flammable, so it requires appropriate handling |
| CO2 (R744) | Larger supermarket-style systems | Very low warming potential; high pressure, specialist equipment |
Why this changes the repair decision
A refrigerant leak on a modern system is a repair: find the leak, fix it, recharge, move on. The same leak on an R22 or R404A system is a repair plus a rapidly rising gas bill, and the gas is often the largest line on the invoice. If the system is also old, has a history of faults or is running a room that has seen better days, the sums start pointing at replacement faster than the repair quote alone would suggest.
This is worth asking about specifically when you get a quote. What refrigerant does the system use, how much did the gas cost, and what would the same leak cost next year? A technician who works on this equipment regularly will have a view.
Retrofit, replace or run it out
There are three sensible paths for an older system. Some R404A plant can be retrofitted to a lower-warming replacement such as R448A or R449A, which extends its life at moderate cost; whether that is worthwhile depends on the condition of the compressor and the rest of the system. Replacement makes sense when the equipment is tired anyway, and a new system will be more efficient as well as running on gas that will still be available in ten years. Running an old system out is legitimate too, provided everyone understands that the next major fault is likely to be its last.
What does not make sense is spending significant money on an old system without having the conversation. The refrigerant question is not obvious from looking at a unit, and it is rarely raised unless someone asks.
What the law requires of everyone
Refrigerant cannot legally be released to the atmosphere. Anyone handling it must hold a refrigerant handling licence, and the business must hold a trading authorisation, both issued through the Australian Refrigeration Council. When a system is decommissioned or replaced, the gas has to be recovered and disposed of properly, not vented. A technician who offers to do otherwise is offering to break the law with your equipment.
For a venue, the practical takeaway is to find out what your older equipment runs on before it fails. It is a five-minute question during a service visit, and it puts you ahead of a decision that otherwise gets made for you on a busy Saturday.