That beige box on the cracked pad beside the house has been doing its job since the Clinton administration. Then it stops cooling in July, a tech puts gauges on it, and the conversation turns into a refrigerant lecture. Here is the plain version, plus what the numbers actually look like in Puget Sound in 2026.
What happened to R-22
R-22 — you'll hear it called Freon, which is really a brand name — was the standard residential refrigerant for decades. Under the Montreal Protocol phaseout, U.S. production and import of new R-22 ended on January 1, 2020. Nothing was banned about your equipment. What went away was the cheap, endless supply of the stuff that makes it run.
Everything on the market today is reclaimed: pulled out of decommissioned systems, cleaned, and resold. Supply is finite and uneven, and pricing reflects that. So the repair that used to be an inexpensive top-off is now a real line item, and it is being spent on a system that is leaking by definition. Refrigerant is not a consumable. If your unit is low, it has a hole somewhere.
How to tell what you have
Check the data plate on the outdoor unit. It lists the refrigerant type — R-22 or R-410A. Rough rule of thumb: units installed before about 2010 are usually R-22, and anything installed in the last decade or so is R-410A or newer. If the plate is faded past reading, a technician can identify it in a couple of minutes during a diagnostic visit for AC service.
The four real options
1. Repair and keep running
Worth doing when the failure is not refrigerant-related — a capacitor, a contactor, a fan motor. Typical repairs land in the $150 to $1,500 range. If the unit is not leaking, a new $200 part on a 20-year-old condenser is fine money.
Where it stops making sense is a leak repair plus a full R-22 charge on a system that has already been topped off once. That is a big spend on a machine with a known ending.
2. Replace the AC only
Straight central AC replacement runs $5,000 to $12,000 installed in standard Washington markets, $6,000 to $15,000 in affluent markets like Seattle, Maple Valley or Normandy Park. That covers a new outdoor condenser, a matched indoor coil, line set work, electrical, permit and startup.
This is the right call when your gas furnace is young and healthy. You are only fixing the half that broke.
3. Replace furnace and AC together
Here is the part people miss. An R-22 condenser sitting outside is almost always paired with a furnace of the same vintage inside. Replacing the AC alone means opening up the same equipment closet again in a few years, paying a second time for labor, permits and a crew day.
Furnace and AC replaced together runs $10,000 to $16,000. Compare that against $5,000 to $12,000 now plus $4,000 to $8,000 later and the combined job usually wins on total cost, not just convenience.
4. Replace the whole thing with a heat pump
A ducted heat pump runs $12,000 to $18,000 in standard markets, $13,800 to $24,300 in affluent and luxury markets. It is the same outdoor box concept as an AC, except it runs in reverse in winter and heats the house too.
For a homeowner staring at a dead R-22 system and an aging furnace, this is usually the honest recommendation. You are replacing two machines with one, using the ductwork that is already there, and heat pumps are the only path to the rebate money described below. Western Washington's mild marine climate — design temperatures across our service area run from 17°F in Olympia to 29°F in Tacoma — is genuinely excellent heat pump territory. No cold-climate hand-wringing required.
| Path | Standard market installed cost | What you end up with |
|---|---|---|
| PathTargeted repair | Standard market installed cost$150 - $1,500 | What you end up withSame old system, one more season |
| PathAC only | Standard market installed cost$5,000 - $12,000 | What you end up withNew cooling, old furnace |
| PathFurnace + AC | Standard market installed cost$10,000 - $16,000 | What you end up withBoth new, gas heat |
| PathDucted heat pump | Standard market installed cost$12,000 - $18,000 | What you end up withHeating and cooling in one system |
Why "drop-in" replacement refrigerants get oversold
You will find shops offering to convert an R-22 system to a substitute blend. It is legal, and occasionally it is a reasonable stopgap. It is not a fix.
Substitute refrigerants generally run at different pressures than what the compressor, coil and metering device were engineered around. Capacity usually drops. The original mineral oil may not circulate properly with the new blend. And the leak that emptied the system in the first place is still there. Converting a 20-year-old condenser is spending real money to slightly extend a machine that is already past its design life.
Same answer for the popular idea of replacing only the outdoor unit and keeping the indoor coil. Mismatched sets underperform, run inefficiently, and typically fall outside manufacturer warranty coverage. Condenser and coil go in as a pair.
The rebate and incentive picture
Two things matter here.
First, the federal 25C tax credit that used to help with high-efficiency equipment ended December 31, 2025. No 2026 installation qualifies. Anyone still advertising it is working from old copy.
Second, utility rebate money in our region is aimed at qualifying heat pump installations, not at straight air conditioner swaps. Varsity is a PSE Certified Contractor, and PSE offers up to $4,400 toward a qualifying heat pump when it replaces an existing electric or fossil-fuel system — the exact amount depends on the system you're replacing and the equipment you install. Critically, eligibility follows the meter, not the city limits. Plenty of homes we serve are on Tacoma Power, Seattle City Light, Peninsula Light or a small mutual utility, each with its own programs. We check your actual utility before we quote a rebate number. More detail in our PSE rebate breakdown.
Programs change — we confirm your current eligibility and handle the paperwork. And starting April 2, 2026, PSE rebates require a PSE-certified installer or the money is forfeited. That is a real differentiator, and we qualify.
Want a number before anyone visits?
Run our instant estimate tool. Seven questions about your home, about sixty seconds, and you'll see Good, Better and Best starting prices for an AC, furnace, heat pump or mini-split. It won't be the final price — that comes from the in-home visit with a real load calculation — but it will tell you what neighborhood you're shopping in before you talk to anyone.
What the estimate visit actually covers
When we come out for an R-22 system, we're looking at more than the box outside:
- Ductwork condition. Damp Puget Sound crawl spaces are hard on old sheet metal and flex duct. If the ducts are the real bottleneck, we say so.
- Electrical capacity. Most homes with a 100-amp panel or larger handle a heat pump without an upgrade.
- Load calculation. Square footage alone doesn't size equipment. Every estimate includes a real Manual J at no extra cost, because an oversized system short-cycles, dehumidifies poorly and dies early.
- Salt air exposure. Waterfront homes in Des Moines, Burien, Gig Harbor and Steilacoom need corrosion-resistant coil coatings.
- Placement and permits. We pull the mechanical permit on every job.
Most installations are finished in one day. Every one carries a 10-year parts and labor warranty. Washington contractor license VARSIHC766RJ.
The bottom line
An R-22 system is not an emergency. It is a countdown. If it's cooling fine, run it. When it needs refrigerant, stop and do the math — because at that point you're choosing between paying reclaimed-R-22 prices for a leaking machine or putting that money toward equipment with a decade of warranty behind it.
Ready for real numbers on your house? Request a free estimate or call (253) 785-4622, Monday through Friday, 8 to 6. Owner-operated, out of Federal Way, serving 45 cities across King, Pierce, Thurston and Kitsap counties.