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Cooling · Repair & ReplaceR-22 Air Conditioner Repair & Replacement
R-22 air conditioner repair and replacement comes down to one rule: fix the electrical parts, replace the system when the refrigerant circuit fails. A capacitor or contactor at $150–$350 is still worth doing on an R-22 unit. A leak or a dead compressor is not, because R-22 has not been made or imported in Canada since 2020 and only reclaimed stock remains.
The rating plate on the outdoor unit names the refrigerant as R-22 or HCFC-22. Central air conditioners installed in Burlington, Oakville and Hamilton before about 2010 almost all use it, which takes in much of the original equipment in 1990s and early-2000s subdivisions. Production and import of the refrigerant itself ended in Canada in 2020. What a technician carries now is gas recovered from scrapped systems, cleaned and resold.
That shrinking supply is why a recharge costs what it does, and why topping up without finding the leak is money lost. Refrigerant is not used up; a system that is low has a leak, and it will be low again next July. R-410A cannot be added to an R-22 system, because it runs at far higher pressure with a different oil. Substitute blends made for R-22 equipment exist, but the old charge must be fully recovered first and capacity drops, so we treat them as a way to buy one season, not as a repair.
Parts outside the sealed circuit are the same parts as on any air conditioner. A run capacitor, a contactor, a condenser fan motor, a chewed thermostat wire or a clogged condensate drain each gets an R-22 system through the summer for a few hundred dollars. The repairs that stop making sense are the ones that open the circuit: an evaporator coil leak, a rubbed-through line, a failed compressor. Every one of those ends with reclaimed refrigerant going into a machine past its design life, and AC repair lists the common faults part by part.
Replacing an R-22 system means a new outdoor condenser and a new indoor coil together. The old coil cannot stay, because current equipment runs R-454B or R-32 at different pressures and with a different oil. The copper line set between them is flushed, pressure-tested and reused when it is the right diameter and accessible, and replaced when it is undersized, jointed inside a finished wall or contaminated by a compressor burnout. New split air conditioners must meet the 13.4 SEER2 minimum, and the furnace stays if its blower suits the new coil.
Stop repairing an R-22 air conditioner when
- A leak test finds refrigerant escaping from the indoor coil or the condenser coil
- The compressor is grounded, seized or will not start with a good capacitor
- It was topped up once already and is low again
- The repair quote passes half the price of a new system
- The furnace is also past 15 years, so both can be replaced in one visit
How it works
We confirm the refrigerant from the rating plate, then test the capacitor, contactor, fan motor and compressor windings with a meter. If the fault is electrical, it is repaired on the visit and the R-22 question waits for another year.
A low system is checked with an electronic detector and, if needed, nitrogen pressure. You get the location of the leak, the price to repair and recharge it, and the price to replace the system, on the same sheet. Request that comparison if another company has only offered a top-up.
The old charge is recovered by an ODP-carded technician and sent for reclamation, never vented. The new condenser and matched coil go in, the line set is flushed or replaced, and the system is pressure-tested, evacuated and charged by weight. Most replacements take one working day.
Brands: R-22 units from Lennox, Carrier, Trane, Goodman, Rheem, York and KeepRite are all still on the road in our area, and we service every one of those brands.
Common questions
Is it illegal to keep running an R-22 air conditioner?
No. Nothing requires you to remove a working R-22 system, and it can run until it fails. The rules cover the refrigerant: no new production or import since 2020, no release to the air, and handling only by a technician holding an ODP card. A unit that holds its charge can be serviced like any other.
Can you still recharge R-22 in Ontario?
Yes, with reclaimed refrigerant, when the supplier has it. The leak is found and repaired first, since charging a leaking system pays for gas that escapes again. On a small accessible leak, such as a valve core or a service valve, repair and recharge can be reasonable. On a coil leak it almost never is.
Can my R-22 system be converted to a newer refrigerant?
Not to R-410A, R-454B or R-32. Those need a compressor, coil and metering device built for them. Substitute blends designed for R-22 equipment can be used once the old charge is recovered, with some loss of capacity and sometimes new seals. That suits a unit already scheduled for replacement. What R-22 is explains the background.
Do I have to replace the furnace when the R-22 AC goes?
No. The furnace stays if it is sound and its blower can move the air the new coil needs. If it is past 15 years, doing both at once shares the plenum work and one install visit, typically $7,500–$11,500 for the pair. Furnace and AC replacement shows when combining them pays.
Is there a rebate for replacing an R-22 air conditioner?
Not for a like-for-like air conditioner. Ontario's Home Renovation Savings Program aims its heating and cooling money at heat pumps, so the real question is whether to replace the old AC with a heat pump that also cools. Rules and amounts change, and the air conditioner rebates page tracks what is open now.