CFC Chiller Replacements Slowed By Economic Downturn

The recent national economic downturn has slowed replacement in buildings of comfort cooling chillers that use chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and manufacturers predict that by year-end 48% of the original 80,000 CFC chillers will still rely on the refrigerants that were banned from U.S. production at the end of 1995. A survey of large tonnage liquid chiller manufacturers by the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI) revealed that 2,931 CFC chillers were converted to non-CFCs refrigerants or replaced by new non-CFC equipment during 2001, with 3,124 more expected in 2002, leaving an estimated 38,281 CFC units still in use. At the current pace, it will likely take manufacturers until the end of this decade to phase out the tens of thousands of CFC chillers still in use. Manufacturers said that in 2002 they expect 360 conversions and 2,764 replacements bringing the total to 41,719 units, or 52% of the original 80,000 CFC chillers in place in the early 1990s.