EPA Moves Install Date for Heat Pumps and Air Conditioning Equipment 

The Environmental Protection Agency released the following information with an interim final rule, moving the installation deadline for residential and light commercial heat pumps and air-condition equipment to January 1, 2026, for equipment manufactured before January 1, 2025. Equipment manufactured after January 1, 2025, will be labeled “For servicing existing equipment only” and cannot be used to install a complete system. The rest of the Final Technology Transition Rule remains the same.

  “On December 20, 2023, EPA Administrator Michael S. Reagan signed an interim final rule to address concerns regarding the January 1, 2025, installation compliance date for residential heat pump and air conditioning systems by amending the final regulation to allow for installation of higher-GWP HFC equipment manufactured or imported before January 1, 2025, to be installed until January 1, 2026. Separately, EPA intends timely consideration of industry concerns related to VRF systems. For more information, please reference the interim final rule.”

HARDI will provide a more detailed explanation of the interim final rule in the coming weeks. As we’ve communicated before, HARDI strongly encourages distributors to treat this potential change as an opportunity to reduce or eliminate any remaining inventory using high-GWP refrigerants after the 2024 cooling season. A delay in the system installation deadline is not an opportunity for a full year of high-GWP equipment sales.