The R-410A refrigerant change, for homeowners

The rule in plain terms

EPA's Technology Transitions rule, written under the AIM Act, caps global warming potential (GWP) at 700 for newly built residential and light commercial AC and heat pump systems, effective January 1, 2025. EPA's FAQ points out that R-32 falls under the cap. It groups R-32 and R-454B together as mildly flammable, allowed only in equipment engineered for them.

The rule has already been revised once. As first written, it would have barred installing any new R-410A system after January 1, 2026, even one built from older parts. A reconsideration rule EPA issued May 26, 2026 dropped that cutoff for systems whose every component was made or imported before January 1, 2025, per EPA's sector table (updated August 28, 2026). Some EPA web pages haven't caught up and still show the old date.

Living with an R-410A system

• Per EPA, you may keep running it and keep fixing it.
• EPA's FAQ says a failed condenser, indoor coil or smaller component can be replaced with a like-for-like R-410A part, since parts used to repair existing systems fall outside the restriction.
• Any R-410A component manufactured after January 1, 2025 has to carry a label limiting it to servicing existing equipment.

Buying a new system

Expect new equipment to use one of the replacement refrigerants, and expect the coil to be replaced along with the condenser, because the two halves have to match. Hanging a new outdoor unit on an old R-410A coil in the basement is not the same thing as a matched system. Ask which refrigerant the quoted equipment uses, and get it in writing that the coil is included. What installation costs.

Efficiency floors were set separately, in 2023, and didn't move with the refrigerant rule: split-system air conditioners installed in the northern region, New York included, need at least 13.4 SEER2, and heat pumps at least 14.3 SEER2.