In Florida, it’s hard to imagine anyone using a car without air conditioning. When you have problems, very often you have lost your freon.

In order for a vehicle’s air conditioning (or almost any air conditioning, period) to work, a substance known as refrigerant is necessary. Air conditioning refrigerant is a substance, usually a liquid, which undergoes transition from liquid to gas, then from gas back to liquid as part of the air conditioning process.

For many years, the refrigerant known as Freon 12 or R-12 was the refrigerant of choice for vehicle AC systems. It was developed in the 1930s and was seen as a perfect refrigerant. It had no odor, taste or color, and was both nonflammable and nontoxic. From the earliest vehicle AC units into the 1980s, R-12 was the refrigerant of choice.

However, researchers and scientists began to be concerned with the impact of R-12 use on the earth’s ozone layer. R-12 is a CFC (chlorofluorocarbon), and compounds in that class have a strong negative impact on the ozone layer. In 1987, a majority of nations ratified the Montreal Protocol, a global treaty aimed at reducing the use of chemicals that deplete or harm the ozone layer.

As per the treaty, in 1994, developed nations like the U.S. were required to phase out the use of Freon R-12 in automotive air conditioning systems. The refrigerant replacing R-12 in U.S. automotive AC systems was R-134a. R-134a has many of the same positive traits as R-12, but doesn’t have the same ozone-depleting effect as R-12.

R-134a was used without major controversy well into the 2000s, but as more attention has shifted toward global warning, concerns have been raised about R-134a too. While not damaging to the ozone layer, R-134a was shown to contribute to global warming by its presence in the atmosphere. The European Union mandated discontinuing the use of R-134a in 2011, and the U.S. and other auto-manufacturing nations have been following suit since.

Lim’s Auto Body is a full service auto body and mechanical repair shop locally owned and operated in Largo, Florida. For more information, go to our web site www.limsautobody.com or call (727) 422-3232.