You may not think about the refrigerant in your air conditioner very often (or at all.) However, it’s still a very important part of keeping your system running properly. In fact, without refrigerant, your air conditioner wouldn’t be able to absorb heat and vent it out of your home.
Refrigerant is not actually a name for a specific fluid, though. Instead, it’s a blanket term for a number of different materials that are used for the same general purpose. For many decades, the most common type of refrigerant in use was Freon. In fact, this is still the name most people come up with when you ask them what refrigerant is. However, Freon has a number of problems associated with it that have led to it being phased out of use in air conditioners over the years. Now, Freon is all-but-gone from the field, which is part of the reason that you should replace your air conditioner if it uses the fluid. Learn more about why you should install a new system if your old one uses Freon, by reading below.