An estimated 33,300 chillers were still using chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerants in 2004, after almost 3,000 were converted or replaced, according to a survey by the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI). The use of CFCs was banned under the Montreal Protocol in 1995 due to concerns about CFCs eroding the Earth's ozone layer. Since then, 58% of the 80,000 CFC chillers in use at the end of 1995 have been replaced.
New non-CFC chillers reduce maintenance costs, use less electricity and are at least 40% more efficient than the CFC chillers installed 20 years ago, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). At the current pace, it will take more than 10 years to replace all the CFC chillers in operation today. The pace of the phase-out has been slower than expected, due in part to federal tax laws, which require depreciation of the chillers over 39 years, said ARI in a statement.