Martes, Hunyo 13, 2017

3 Tips on Properly Disposing of an Old Air Conditioner

heating and air conditioning leesburg
Being among the most common household appliances in the country, it's a given that homeowners will eventually be faced with the necessity of disposing of their unit once it reaches its time. Uninformed homeowners may very well throw their units out along with the rest of the trash, but this is highly ill-advised. Read on to discover the proper way to dispose of an old air conditioning system.

 Throwing it Away is Illegal

 Homeowners can't simply throw their AC unit out along with the rest of their trash. In doing so, they would be breaking the law. AC uses a cooling refrigerant which can potentially contain chemicals that may have a harmful effect on the environment if left unattended in a landfill.

heating and air conditioning leesburg
Two types of refrigerants are commonly found in today's air conditioning units: R-410A refrigerants, which are normally found in newer units, and R-22 refrigerants, typically found in older units. R-410A refrigerants can negatively impact the environment if not adequately disposed of when it's time. R-22 refrigerants typically contain ozone-depleting chemicals, which is why they've been recalibrated in recent years in order to improve efficiency while limiting negative environmental impact.

heating and air conditioning leesburg
How to Recycle It

The first step to recycling an AC unit is to to remove its refrigerant. However, it's absolutely vital that homeowners refrain from doing this themselves. Attempting to remove refrigerant from an air conditioning unit without prior training or experience is incredibly unsafe. Instead, it's best to call up a heating and air conditioning leesburg company to make a service call to remove the chemical.


heating and air conditioning leesburg
How to Donate or Sell It

Not all air conditioning systems reach their end the same way. Some die abruptly with little to no prior warning, while others fade away slowly for several years before shutting off indefinitely. In the former case, there's little to do with the unit but properly dispose of it. If, however, a homeowner's unit is in the early stages of its end, it might still have a few years of use left in it, which makes it a valuable commodity.

Homeowners are advised to arrange a service call with a HVAC contractor in order to have an assessment of the unit done. If the contractor concludes that the unit will still run (albeit sub-optimally) for another few years before shutting off, the homeowner can seek to have the unit sold. There are prospective customers out there who could use any HVAC unit at all, even a faulty one, for liquidation price. If the homeowner is ready to buy a new unit and could use some extra cash, there's no harm in putting the system up for sale online to see if anyone is interested.

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