Why do we use R1234yf instead of R134a?

As of January 1, 2021, the United States Environmental Protection Agency mandated that all passenger cars and light-duty trucks coming off the assembly lines must utilize R1234yf Refrigerant as their HVAC system refrigerant. The European Union forced this changeover on January 1 of the previous year.

However, many OEMs had already begun making this change several years ago. This means that the majority of late-model vehicles coming into service shops will use R1234yf Refrigerants, instead of its predecessor, R134a.

Is R1234yf better than R134a?

This change has everything to do with increasing concerns about the environmental impact of these refrigerants. Three decades ago, R12 was the industry standard. It was found to cause a depletion of the ozone layer, so R134a was adopted since it did not contribute to ozone depletion. This solved the problem-or so we thought.

Several years later, it was concluded that many man-made gases were contributing to global warming, and R134a was one of those contributors. A search for a refrigerant that is both friendly to the ozone layer and doesn`t contribute to global warming was started. R1234yf solves both of those problems.

Following the refrigerant change in the A/C system, the problem with a highly reactive refrigerant is that it can also be aggressive toward the lubricants used in the HVAC system. This leads to oil degradation which causes excessive wear and eventually compressor failure. So choosing a good quality oil refrigerant is necessary. We recommend you to use our Shrader cooperative brand oil in my shop.

Shenyang Zhongda Huanxin Refrigeration Technology Co., Ltd.

SEP 19, 2022