DIY: How to Add Refrigerant to a Homes Heat Pump
To follow up on a recent post describing how to recharge your car’s air conditioner, I’d like to take the issue further and describe the process of charging your home’s air conditioner. Specifically, if you have a heat pump unit, which is one unit that does both your homes heating and cooling. If you Google the issue of adding refrigerant to your homes heat pump, all you will get is message boards of everyday people asking how to do it, and certified “professionals” saying it’s a job only for them to handle and you will likely blow up your unit just by looking at it wrong. The reality is that although heat pumps are slightly complex, the only reason “normal” people are banned/afraid of working on them is because the refrigerant used (usually R-22 in older units) requires a certification to either purchase, install, or take out of a unit. Now, there is a product on the market that emulates the same refrigerants your homes air conditioner requires, but is environmentally friendly and does NOT require a license. So here is my quick tutorial on how to add a charge to your homes heating and cooling unit.
[Ed. - New update after the jump]
From Early Bender in the comments:
Thanks Frank, for your brave, correct and informative post. All your info is good and I have been successfully using Envirosafe R22 and R12 replacements for many years. They have kept away the rude and sloppy local HVAC people too. Who, would rather gripe and harangue you – while letting everybody’s equipment run poorly (that’s the dangerous part and what actually hurts the environment). Most everything they learn at school, you can learn better with repair books at your library – on your own time if you wish.
Most dealers and service places now refuse to replace either the indoor or outdoor units separately out of “warranty” concerns. Generally this is a ploy to sell new equipment, with albeit with good intentions mixed in. That means junking your entire system and shelling out 5 – 10k for something new – which I have done and found that it’s no more reliable than my old one. More efficient the new gear maybe you’re looking and 10-20years for the thing to pay for itself. If your outdoor unit dies, it can be replaced with most any other brand of equal size and sometimes smaller (ie a 2 ton can sometimes work well with a 3 ton indoor). A York 2 ton condenser will work fine with a Rheem or Carrier air handler – so long as you wire up the thermostat colors correctly. Installation and be done with copper fittings, mapp gas for brazing and 15% silver solder brazing rods from plumbing / heating parts places. With all that money you’ll save you should buy A Yellow Jacket gauge set and 4 cfm vac pump (available on eBay cheapest). Under $400 in tools you’ll use a lifetime.
FiY – Envirosafe is a hydrocarbon base R22 or R12 compatible refrigerant. The R22 blend is basically a pine scented form of high purity Propane. I find the claims of lower pressures (good) and higher efficiency to be TRUE – after using it for 5 long years. Hydrocarbon molecules are a smaller natural form of what FREON tries to do synthetically – so there is science to why the natural stuff is better. Envirosafe mixes fantastically with ALL known refrigerant oils – so the above boogyman post is incorrect. The R12 for old cars is a blend of propane / butane. Before everybody (I mean you HVAC trogs) spout off about the Envirosafe being “high priced BBQ gas” – that’s not true. The Pine scent and higher purity make it much better for use in your home’s heat pump than Coleman propane camp bottles (they work in a pinch). They other fallacy I hear (especially from particularly ignorant HVAC guys) is that propane in a closed system is somehow a fire hazard or explosion risk. This is so stupid. PROPANE is used to replace FREON in CANADA and EUROPE. Stop and use common sense. You always vacuum the line or evacuate any gas before torching or working on systems. There is no oxygen present in which to cause and explosion. If you want to get really techie – R22 freon is MUCH worse. It catches fire like the devil when mixed with oil in a spray and when heated to high temp – produces a form of Nerve gas.
In short, use Envirosafe – it’s good stuff for your car and house. Buy the tools and keep’em around if you’re handy. You’ll save thousands in service calls.
I don’t work for or sell Envirosafe or anything else HVAC. Just a poor homeowner who learned the hard way – if you want it done right – you better do it yourself. There are good HVAC people (rare!) out there and a well maintained system can run 30 years.
Thanks Early Bender! -Ben
cont’d:
Typically, most heat pumps and air conditioners will have two main points where you monitor the pressure in your system. The first, the suction line (low side) is the line where you would measure the psi of the refrigerant in your system. This is also the line where you would install more refrigerant if needed. The other main gauge to monitor is the head pressure, which like the low side, easily allows a gauge to be hooked up to measure the pressure. There is not one pressure fits all type of measurements to look out for, each system varies slightly, but largely the measurements are similar. Most units will have a chart listing the proper pressure based off the outside temperature; this chart is usually located on the back cover of the outdoor unit.
How to Recharge a Heat Pumps Refrigerant.
For heat pumps, it’s much easier to recharge you system in the summer while your unit is in the cool mode versus the heat mode in the winter. This is due in large part to the more predictable measuring of pressure and outside temperatures etc. Having said that, here are the basic steps to check your systems pressures and install more refrigerant if needed while it is in the cool mode, keep in mind this is the basic tutorial:
1) Shut off your unit and cut off all power.
2) Take off the back cover of your outside unit to reach the necessary gauge ports. (Some units gauge ports are easily assessable without having to remove any part of the outside unit).
3) Locate the suction (low side) gauge port. Generally, this port is directly hooked to the refrigerant line running into your home. The refrigerant line is the much bigger line running directly into your home and is covered with insulation.
4) Take off both the dust cap on the head pressure port and the low side suction port and install gauge fittings tightly.
5) Once everything is hooked up and secure, give your unit power and turn it to the cool mode. You should see your gauges jump. Let the unit run for about 10 minutes, which should help give you the most accurate reading.
6) Look at the back cover of your outside unit, this is where the chart that tells you what readings to look for in cool mode based off the outside temperature. Generally, when a heat pump is in the cool mode, the low side suction line should be +/- 70 psi and the head pressures should be around 225-250 psi. This is all with an outdoor temperature of about 90F degrees.
7) If your unit is running a low side pressure of much less than 60-70, it’s likely you need to add some refrigerant. This is done the same way you would add it to your vehicle. Take the can of environmentally friendly refrigerant and hook it to the other end of the gauge (you can almost always buy the gauges and refrigerant together) and loosen the valve to slowly let refrigerant run into the line. You will see the gauge jump way up indicating that refrigerant is going into the system. A good rule of thumb is to grasp the refrigerant line running into your home and fill the unit until you begin to feel the line get cold. When it gets cold, shut the valve and let the system go for a couple minutes and take a reading. Continue to do this until your system is at the proper pressure.
8) Basically, that’s all there is to adding refrigerant to your system. This DIY process will likely cost you about $50-75 for everything you need, versus about $300+ to get it done professionally. Many DIY sets will also come with a stop leak can, which can be added the same way as the refrigerant (still being mindful of your pressures).
What Should the Temperature of the Air Coming Out of My Vents Be?
After you properly fill your system with refrigerant, its a good idea to test the air coming out of your vents to make sure everything is working correctly. To do this, use a simple thermometer and stick it up in your vents (usually recharging sets also come with one of these). Take a reading of the air going into your unit from the inside (this is the same place you change your filter) and take a reading of a vent closest to your indoor unit. If everything is done correctly, the air coming out of your vents should be about 15-18 degrees colder than the air going into your unit (basically, the temperature your thermostat reads as the current indoor temperature).
I anticipate professional HVAC repairers to pound this post with comments that doing any of this without knowledge will likely cause serious damage to your system. While I will say that if your gauge readings are completely out of whack, that can mean many other things are wrong with your system other than just being low on refrigerant. However, homeowners with a small leak know that their system is going to need recharging every summer or so, these are the people this is intended for. Despite what professionals say, this process is pretty simple and straightforward and best of all, cheap. Good Luck!
Here is the link to where you can find environmentally friendly refrigerant. You can also find good deals on refill sets on Ebay.
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Comments
Enjoyed your article.
What would be the procedure and process for a ground source heat pump?
You must be a genius. This is not something someone with no experience should be doing. What if someone has a 2 stage system and is trying to charge it in low stage? What if they have a dirty filter or coil and that is the reason for low suction pressure? What if someone has a bad TXV and that is the reason for low pressure? Adding refrigerant will surely help those problems.What if they are working on a 410A system and have no idea what that even means and they use that homeowner garbage your suggesting? Mixing the two different oils ought to destroy the compressor in about a day. Not to mention if someone adds liquid refrigerant to the suction side of a nonscroll compressor and sluggs it. I’m sure someone with no idea of what they are doing will know exactly how boil it off and restart the compressor if its not damaged from trying to compress liquid. I could go on and on about how many other things could cause low suction pressurre but why? You said it can be done without any understanding of the refrigerant cycle so it must be true.
this is what i went to all my schooling for i should just keep putting gas in my system that will fix it where do you think the gas that was in it went hmmmmmmm
Excellent article. Question: Would anyone comment as to weather the small cans of R22A fit a standard servicing manifold (As opposed to the usual BBQ Propane sized Container).
Frank, thank you. This is an excellent article and a good starting point. .However I would recommend that anyone considering recharging their system (Heat Pump/AC) should carefully read the manufactures “Installation, Operations, and Maintenance instructions” that all units come with. These will take you through proper procedures for Refrigerant charging, Leak Testing, and System Purging and Evacuation if needed. This information can also be found in most HVAC maintenance and trouble shooting manuals, and in training manuals.
I have been maintaining my the two systems in my house (two stage heat pump upstairs and Gas furnace and A/C on main floor) for ten years now, after a local HVAC company wanted to charge me $180 for changing the capacitor after I had already trouble shoot the problem in my heat pump evaporator fan motor. I bought the capacitor from the local HVAC supplier for $1.66 with tax (he did give me some grave for not been a licensed HVAC before he caved in and sold me the capacitor). These days I buy all my components from on-line without questions.
Thanks Frank, for your brave, correct and informative post. All your info is good and I have been successfully using Envirosafe R22 and R12 replacements for many years. They have kept away the rude and sloppy local HVAC people too. Who, would rather gripe and harangue you – while letting everybody’s equipment run poorly (that’s the dangerous part and what actually hurts the environment). Most everything they learn at school, you can learn better with repair books at your library – on your own time if you wish.
Most dealers and service places now refuse to replace either the indoor or outdoor units separately out of “warranty” concerns. Generally this is a ploy to sell new equipment, with albeit with good intentions mixed in. That means junking your entire system and shelling out 5 – 10k for something new – which I have done and found that it’s no more reliable than my old one. More efficient the new gear maybe you’re looking and 10-20years for the thing to pay for itself. If your outdoor unit dies, it can be replaced with most any other brand of equal size and sometimes smaller (ie a 2 ton can sometimes work well with a 3 ton indoor). A York 2 ton condenser will work fine with a Rheem or Carrier air handler – so long as you wire up the thermostat colors correctly. Installation and be done with copper fittings, mapp gas for brazing and 15% silver solder brazing rods from plumbing / heating parts places. With all that money you’ll save you should buy A Yellow Jacket gauge set and 4 cfm vac pump (available on eBay cheapest). Under $400 in tools you’ll use a lifetime.
FiY – Envirosafe is a hydrocarbon base R22 or R12 compatible refrigerant. The R22 blend is basically a pine scented form of high purity Propane. I find the claims of lower pressures (good) and higher efficiency to be TRUE – after using it for 5 long years. Hydrocarbon molecules are a smaller natural form of what FREON tries to do synthetically – so there is science to why the natural stuff is better. Envirosafe mixes fantastically with ALL known refrigerant oils – so the above boogyman post is incorrect. The R12 for old cars is a blend of propane / butane. Before everybody (I mean you HVAC trogs) spout off about the Envirosafe being “high priced BBQ gas” – that’s not true. The Pine scent and higher purity make it much better for use in your home’s heat pump than Coleman propane camp bottles (they work in a pinch). They other fallacy I hear (especially from particularly ignorant HVAC guys) is that propane in a closed system is somehow a fire hazard or explosion risk. This is so stupid. PROPANE is used to replace FREON in CANADA and EUROPE. Stop and use common sense. You always vacuum the line or evacuate any gas before torching or working on systems. There is no oxygen present in which to cause and explosion. If you want to get really techie – R22 freon is MUCH worse. It catches fire like the devil when mixed with oil in a spray and when heated to high temp – produces a form of Nerve gas.
In short, use Envirosafe – it’s good stuff for your car and house. Buy the tools and keep’em around if you’re handy. You’ll save thousands in service calls.
I don’t work for or sell Envirosafe or anything else HVAC. Just a poor homeowner who learned the hard way – if you want it done right – you better do it yourself. There are good HVAC people (rare!) out there and a well maintained system can run 30 years.
i like the fact that your trying to help the everyday guy but there is a reason this is a profession and there is classes that me myself have gone through to work on theses things not to mention epa certification to make sure your not dumping this stuff into the environment ($20,000 fine and jail time). If you don’t know what your doing call a good HVAC guy that someone knows to fill or fix it it’s not much usually to fill and it’s done right. I’m not going to say anything bad about this enviro safe cause I’ve never seen or heard of the stuff before but most new units are going to environmentally safe refrigerants and like 410a and eventually everybody will be able to get normal refrigerant cause the new ones won’t impact the environment anything but you do need to know the equipment and how it work so you don’t break it $$$$$. Thats where us HVAC guys come in the good guys not the guys out there that think they know what doing taught by they’re dad or something and ruin things overfilling killing the compressor.
Good points, but for some things you can still save unnecessary expenditures when its simple stuff.
Ryan mentioned working with 410a. Envirosafe has no mentiion of its product and 410a working together. Can you comment on this. Thanks.
Frank, this is the best straightforward set of instructions I have seen on the web. I think the fear most homeowners experience is due to being told how poisonous, explosive, corrosive and environment-harming the refrigerants are. I’ve observed newbies jump when they hear a hiss from a loose can connection. But, all-in-all, it’s just a confidence thing. Sure, the stuff can hurt you if you mishandle all of the items used in the process. But, so will driving a car… and a lot quicker.
Your instructions should help give the homeowner with even a modicum of mechanical ability the confidence to start out on what will be a rather fulfilling task.
Again, thanks a bunch for your article. If it can help someone get 5 or so more years out of their unit, then when they buy a new unit, it will be new longer. Win. Win.
Frank, Early Bender commented that a well maintained system can last 30 years. I have one system running that was installed in 1964, now that will be 50 years in 2014. I don’t know what the actual brand of the system is, but it is labelled Sears. So, I guess Sears-Roebuck sold systems at one time.
After reading the above it became painfully who
(in general) we`er dealing with. I just had an A/C unit in a 4 year old home quite. Just stopped blowing cold air. I figured since the unit was still under warranty I could get it repaired with a minimal charge. This was sadly not the case. Sorry, I have a point, let me get to it. Anyway, I called the guys that put the unit in. They came out checked the unit, charged me $170.00 to replace a $6.00 capacitor, and had to order a Defrost board. $88.00 Two week wait for the board. I called them in two weeks to be told “The board is in and it would be an additional $270.00 to put it in.”
Don’t get me wrong, I imagine launching a missile takes less schooling than becoming a A/C Tech.
Now, who in their right mind can justify $440.00 labor for one hour? I understand the Co. cost for equipment, insurance, etc.etc. But really, $440.00 an hour?
I for one an glad to see post like this. The information above could not have been worded any better. My sincerest appreciation to you Frank!
OMG Interesting string of comments. I support DIY guys & gals that stay informed. I’m a DIY guy who heard the BS line from an HVAC guy that my six year old system needed to be replaced with a new $8K, 410a refrigerant model. He advised that R22 was outlawed (which was a lie) and that he couldn’t add R22 to my system if there was a leak (which was a lie). I went to the EPA website and aducated myself about the law. I went online and got technician’s certificate for $25 so I could buy my own refrigerant. I found numerous vids on YouTube explaining the refrigerant cycle, how to use a P-T chart, and how to maintain my heat pump (which has a TXV). I purchased a high-end Testo 550 analyzer which automatically calculates Subcooling & Superheat. I’m good to go now & never have to believe the BS the “professionals” are slinging. BTW EPA only regulates leakage from systems having 50 lbs of refrigerant or more. My residential heat pump has 9.5 lbs of R22 and is not regulated by the EPA at all. Study the law. Get informed.
You can usually get licensed HVAC tech to come out and find the problem from $50 to $100. Now if it is electrical you may be able to fix it and I have also thought about using cans from the store to recharge it but that doesn’t tell me where it leaks. You don’t loose R-22 if you don’t have a leak somewhere. I also don’t need fines and/or jail time for not recovering the R-22 or eguiv.
If someone wants $400 to replace a capacitor, I’d call them on that. I also don’t think you can get a recovery unit and all of the test equipment for no $400 either. If it’s electrical you might solve it yourself but if the trouble is mechanical forget it. You need someone that has been to school.
I am the fellow who wrote the above post, in response to Frank’s original May, 2010 … MilkYourMoney article. That’s been almost 2 years ago, and I am glad there’s been allot of controversy regarding both legality and sensibility of the homeowner; to tackle a big household problem … heating & cooling … HVAC repair.
And, for you HVAC pros: I hate to generalize….I really do. But with (a few) exceptions you are a grumpy – and territorial bunch. Yes you went to school and learned a trade. That doesn’t even make you a demigod. The internet is attacking almost every profession, and you’re going to take a pay cut like I have. You guys have taken allot of money from me personally. A friend of mine once had take mortgage for repairs & later a new system. Besides major structural stuff, land acreage… HVAC is one of the most expensive issues we face at home.
The HVAC business makes lots of money installing NEW systems. Please admit it, it is YOUR living. I am OK with that. But please check your facts and stop scaring homeowners. They’ll buy new units when the time comes….and you’ll get your dough. I realize it’s not a fun life or easy work. So you have to make it up on the markup of selling and then “installing” a new whole house split system. If a few handy people decide to fix their ailing 30 year old heat pumps, and get the mortgage paid down a little quicker….that’s OK … this is AMERICA right?
Let’s clear up a few myth often mentioned, and echoed by HVAC pros above:
1) “It’s against the law to repair your heat pump”…..WRONG.
Yes, that’s right….ENTIRELY LEGAL. Under FEDERAL & EVERY STATE LAW I can think of…You can legally handle ENVIROSAFE, and repair our OWN HVAC, and any other darn thing around the house. (Because it’s really just PURIFIED PROPANE silly). Any homeowner that so wishes, can take and hopefully pass the very easy, multiple-choice EPA test. Then you too can be a JEDI knight — ( allowed to handle all FREON(s)).
Don’t work on your neighbor’s unit. *Not* quite so legal.
2) You have to go to “school”. NOPE.
Nice try, but not really. Somebody who didn’t like reading, could be careless, and simply use directions on the can, and what comes with the tools you just bought. Basic electrical knowledge will help at least to do basic troubleshooting. It would be ill-advised, but probably OK.
That said…..I strongly recommend the library and skimming a few books. The refrigeration cycle is not rocket science. Every homeowner should learn their way around basic electricity, be careful, and be safe. If you can make it out of Lowes or Home Depot alive, you’re probably handy enough. Use common sense, and don’t be afraid to ask for help.
You don’t have to be an ASE to change your car’s oil, or water pump right?
One more thing….and it’s a Duesy!!
I’ve got very bad news for you brick & mortar HVAC dealers.
*** The homeowner no longer needs you. ****
And much to the chagrin a diesel dually drivin’, mad doggin’, unionized, plastic FLAG wearin’, gun-clapping american HVAC technician…. Enter the ASIAN designed and DiY friendly MINI-SPLIT system. Much like Jackie Chan’s light and extremely powerful legs, they’re drop kicking the industry and much of new renovation construction. Their diminutive looks and questionable plastic housings may fool you…. but they’re truly great. The typical mini-split, runs on 110volts, or 220volts. Under 12,000 btu sized units can often just plug into your wall — on a free circuit. The “inside” unit or evaporator, typicality weights a paltry 35lbs. Mitsubishi’s expensive model known as “Mr. Slim” is the best, and has been used by the USA Govt. to heat and cool our troops all over the world. They blow quietly, and thanks to no chilly air preloaded in OLD leaky, moldy ductwork under your house — there’s not really a problem with cold air blasts in the winter. They heat very “hotly” indeed.
There are many more, ridiculously cheap, off brand “no name” designs on eBay & Amazon. I have been installing them all over my place for years now. They are MUCH, MUCH quieter and more efficient than anything York or Trane can sell you … by ten times. There are even systems with “quick-connect fittings that the homeowner can simply plug together….pre charged and pre vacuumed lines … totally flexible hose , fixed length 15ft. I paid $1600 for a 120volt 12,000 1ton, DiY-able “Harbor Pointe” , it’s 20 seer++ with a 9 HSPF, and can almost heat & cool my entire 900 sqft (small home). It’s INVERTER controlled, variable speed compressor can run down to ZERO degrees. While they’re LONG TERM durability & reliability and SERVICE & SUPPORT is still very much in question …. it’s really a moot point. Because Trane, York, Rheem etc, would never even wholesale you “20 seer ANYTHING” for even a fraction of the price. And you can install these YOURSELF. No hacking up floors or attics — a single 3″-4″ hole in the wall and two screws to hang it up. A little electrical work, then minor pluming and you’re done.
The new units come with instructions on how to “self purge” the air, the preloaded R410A FREON pushes the air right out of the line — so you don’t need a VAC pump.
No pain-in-the-butt, ugly old thermostat either. That’s been replaced with a handy remote control.
No more dirty ductwork. No more noisy outdoor roaring condensers in your yard.
No more getting up to crank around your mercury filled Honeywell dome.
The split system heat pump, with ductwork as we know it is a dinosaur.
Sort of like your your old 100watt tower PC, that is clogged with a buggy version Windows7 and viruses.
That’s been replaced by the iPad.
Yeah, it’s a scary world out there for the homeowner.
Just remember: “fear is the mind-killer”.
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