A refrigerant is the working fluid inside every air conditioner, heat pump, fridge and cool room — the gas that absorbs heat in one place and dumps it in another as it cycles between liquid and vapour. Which gas your system uses matters more than most people realise: it determines efficiency, safety requirements, whether your installer needs special equipment, and — thanks to Australia's tightening import rules — what a regas will cost you in five years.
The Two Numbers That Killed Old Refrigerants
ODP (Ozone Depletion Potential) measures damage to the ozone layer. It's why the early CFCs (like R-12) and then the HCFCs (like R-22) were phased out globally under the Montreal Protocol. GWP (Global Warming Potential) measures heat-trapping power versus CO₂, which scores 1. R-410A — the gas in most Australian splits installed through the 2010s — scores 2,088. That number is why the industry is changing again right now.
What's In Australian Systems: The Quick Comparison
| Refrigerant | Type | GWP | Safety | Where you'll find it in Australia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R-22 | HCFC | 1,810 | A1 | Pre-2010s aircon — phased out, imports ended |
| R-410A | HFC blend | 2,088 | A1 | Most splits and ducted systems installed 2005–2020 |
| R-32 | HFC | 675 | A2L | Nearly all new split systems sold today |
| R-454B | HFO/HFC blend | 465 | A2L | Emerging in new AC and heat pump equipment |
| R-290 (propane) | Natural | ~3 | A3 | Hot water heat pumps, small commercial fridges |
| R-744 (CO₂) | Natural | 1 | A1 | Supermarket refrigeration, some heat pumps |
| R-404A | HFC blend | 3,922 | A1 | Older commercial freezers — being replaced fast |
| R-402A | HCFC blend | High + ODP | A1 | Legacy R-502 freezer retrofits — historic only |
R-22: The Old Gas Costing People Money
If your air conditioner predates roughly 2010, there's a fair chance it runs R-22 — an ozone-depleting HCFC whose bulk imports into Australia have effectively ended under the Montreal Protocol phase-out. Systems can legally keep running, but every regas relies on recycled or dwindling stock, which makes a leaky R-22 system an economic dead end. The maths almost always favours replacement: a modern R-32 unit cuts running costs sharply, and replacing an old inefficient system is exactly what the Victorian VEU and NSW ESS rebates pay for.
R-410A: Still Everywhere, Quietly On the Way Out
R-410A took over from R-22 and powered the great Australian split-system boom — zero ozone impact, strong performance, but a GWP of 2,088 that put it squarely in the sights of the HFC phase-down. There's no need to panic if you own one: the federal government is explicit that the phase-down restricts bulk gas imports, not equipment already in homes, and existing systems can keep being serviced. The practical effect is slower and sneakier: as import quotas shrink, high-GWP gas gets more expensive, so an R-410A system with a major leak increasingly fails the repair-or-replace test.
R-32: What You're Buying Today
Walk into any showroom and almost every new split system runs R-32: a third of R-410A's GWP, zero ODP, excellent efficiency, and a single-component gas that's simpler to recover and recycle. Every brand on our rebate-eligible brands list — Daikin, Mitsubishi Electric, MHI, Midea, Rinnai, Emerald, Hisense, Haier — has standardised on it. Its one quirk: R-32 is classed A2L, "mildly flammable" — completely safe in equipment designed for it and installed by licensed hands, which brings us to the law.
The Australian Rules: ARCtick and the Phase-Down
Two regulatory systems shape everything above, and both are worth knowing as a consumer:
1. Licensing. Under the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Regulations 1995, anyone handling fluorocarbon refrigerants — installing, regassing, decommissioning — must hold a Refrigerant Handling Licence issued by the Australian Refrigeration Council (ARCtick). DIY regassing isn't a grey area; it's illegal, and you can verify any tradie's licence on the ARC website in thirty seconds. (Natural refrigerants like propane sit outside the ARC scheme but are controlled by state safety rules — equally not a DIY job.)
2. Supply. Australia's HFC phase-down began on 1 January 2018, cutting bulk HFC import quotas every two years on the way to an 85% reduction by 2036. It's biting hard now: the January 2026 step cut quota by a further 19%, to roughly half the original baseline. Each cut nudges high-GWP refrigerant prices up — which is precisely the point. The scheme covers bulk cylinders only, not the gas pre-charged inside imported equipment, and leaves a 15% residual from 2036 for servicing what's already installed.
The Confusing Ones, Sorted
R-402A gets searched constantly and misunderstood almost as often — it's not a new low-GWP gas but a 1990s HCFC blend used to retrofit old R-502 commercial freezers. Historic interest only. R-454B is genuinely new: a lower-GWP successor jostling to replace R-410A in next-generation equipment, also A2L. R-290 (propane) is brilliant in hot water heat pumps and small fridges but is A3 highly flammable — only ever in equipment purpose-built for it. R-744 (CO₂) runs Australia's modern supermarket refrigeration at GWP 1, traded off against very high operating pressures.
Never Mix, Never Drop In
Refrigerants are not interchangeable. Mixing gases or "dropping in" a different refrigerant because the pressure looks similar wrecks compressors, voids warranties, breaches the regulations and creates real safety risk with A2L and A3 gases. A legitimate retrofit involves full recovery, oil compatibility checks, relabelling and manufacturer approval — and for most ageing residential systems, that money is better spent on new equipment that comes with a rebate attached.
What This Means For Your Wallet
The thread running through all of it: old-gas systems are getting more expensive to keep alive at exactly the moment governments are paying you to replace them. An R-22 or early R-410A system facing a compressor or major leak repair is usually a replace, not a repair — and replacing inefficient heating and cooling is the flagship activity of the state energy schemes. Check what your postcode qualifies for with the rebate checker, size the replacement with the sizing calculator, and if you're a Victorian on ducted gas, run the gas-vs-reverse-cycle numbers while you're at it.