The Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI) recently stated that approximately 50,000 of the 80,000 CFC chillers (65%) are still in service. CFC producers have sold virtually all of their virgin CFC-11 and -12 supplies, which means owners of CFC chillers must now rely on distributor stockpiles, their own stored CFC refrigerants, and previously used CFCs recovered from out-of-service chiller units.
This means 50,000 CFC chillers will be competing for existing CFCs.
There's a big opportunity for contractors to replace those CFC chillers. With more than 50,000 chillers in the U.S. currently CFC-based, the retrofit-replacement market is estimated in the billions of dollars. It also offers a tremendous opportunity for facilities to save money and reduce energy costs.