You may need to replace your A/C or refrigerator soon. Here’s why

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - If you have an older air conditioner or refrigerator, the gas used to keep your appliances cool will be discontinued. This will force many of you to buy new appliances if something goes wrong.

Although the law goes into effect next year, C&C Home Appliances in Lake Charles has already followed suit.

“All refrigerators have pretty much changed by now. The smaller refrigerators changed at the beginning of 2022. So everything we sell now uses the new gas,” Owner Larry Wright said.

According to the EPA, stricter limits on gases called hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, will help with global warming.

“There’s a lot less of it. It is much more energy efficient, so it gets just as cold. It is much safer to inhale. We don’t have to use a recovery machine like we did on the old units,” Wright said.

This change will leave many consumers with no choice but to purchase new air conditioners and refrigerators.

“It will be much much more expensive to work on, so if a customer has a refrigerator or air conditioner that uses the old refrigerant, sometimes it’s just not repairable anymore because the old gas is just not available to us,” Wright said.

Wright gave us a rough estimate of pricing.

“So, if you were looking at a $600 refrigerator, you’re probably paying $679 or somewhere in that ballpark now versus what it was two years ago, and part of that is directly related to them having to change to the new gas,” he said.

Once the mandate kicks in, Wright said there will be nothing appliance companies can do.

“After you get to a certain date, there’s nothing you can do, it’s against the law for them to build them anymore. They have to build the new equipment and so the consumer is just stuck,” he said.

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