This newsletter is to remind you of recent European and Environmental Protection Agency requirements that are in effect for all owners and operators of air conditioning and refrigeration equipment.  In essence if you have any air conditioning or refrigeration equipment in your building this affects you.

As the owner or operator of refrigeration and/or air conditioning equipment you are now legally obliged to do the following:

• Employ only F-gas registered companies to work on your equipment (check that your service company has a current valid registration at www.fgasregistration.ie
• Employ only qualified engineers to work on your equipment.
• Have your air conditioning equipment leak checked regularly
• If the refrigerant content (per system) is >3KG then the system must be leak checked every 12 months, if >30K it must be inspected every 6 months and if >300KG it must be inspected every 3 months
• Maintain records of all refrigerants within your equipment with a charge of 3kg or more (if hermetic, 6kg or more).
• Keep records of all maintenance, repairs and leak checking performed on each piece of equipment.
• Prevent leakage and repair any leaks as soon as possible.

The onus is on the equipment operator to ensure that they are in compliance with current legislation. 

Where you have employed an air conditioning/refrigeration contractor to maintain and leak check your equipment under maintenance agreement/contract then the responsibility may shift to the contractor for record keeping and compliance.

If you have your air conditioning and refrigerant equipment under maintenance agreement/contract with an F gas registered company then my advice is to stay with your current company as they should be ensuring compliance and keeping you up to date with current requirements.

On the other hand, if your equipment is not being maintained and leak checked in line with current requirements, then contact our office for advice and further information on compliance.

There are numerous information booklets available for download from the EPA website http://epa.ie/downloads/advice/air/ods/ in connection with Ozone Depletion Substances (ODS) and Fluorinated gases (F-gas) at http://www.epa.ie/whatwedo/advice/air/ozone/guidanceanddownloads/

HCFC (including R22) phase out – If you have and R22 equipment onsite, you should consider replacing it with more energy efficient equipment.  If HCFC equipment needs a refrigerant based repair, you can only use recycled or reclaimed refrigerant.   From January 2015 it will be illegal to use recycled or reclaimed refrigerant

What this means is that if you have any HCFC based equipment such as R22 or R408A you may continue to use if as long as it does not need a repair which involves the refrigerant circuit. 

We offer the following services aimed at F-gas and ODS compliance:

• Equipment inventory– We identify and label all your refrigerant and air conditioning equipment, calculate the refrigerant charge and identify the type of refrigerant in the equipment and catalogue the results
• Refrigerant identification– Don’t know what type of refrigerant is in a piece of equipment – we can identify it.
• Leak checking– We find and fix leaks on all types of equipment.
• Service & repairs– We service and repair most leading brands of equipment and cover the following counties Dublin, Westmeath, Offaly, Meath, Wicklow and Louth.
• Maintenance– Keep your equipment running efficiently and be compliant with current F-gas and ODS legislation.
• New installations – We offer supply and fit of fixed air conditioning equipment from leading manufacturers’
• Equipment replacement – We offer change out of R22 equipment to the newer environmentally friendly refrigerants.

Should you need any further information, or wish to avail of any of our services, contact us on 044 9384881 or 087 2231015.