Global Warming Potential of Refrigerants

When working with refrigerants like R22 and R134A, it's important to know what their Global Warming Potential is. Knowing the refrigerant's GWP is crucial for many reasons, especially when charging, sealing and other tasks so you may continue to work responsibly with such materials.

If unfamiliar: the Global Warming Potential, or “GWP,” is a crucial measurement system that quantifies the impact that refrigerants can have on the Earth over a period of time (usually 100 years). This system designates a number that can range between 0-14,000 respectively, and refrigerants are given a rating within that range to indicate the substance's impact. The higher the GWP of a refrigerant, the greater potential it has to negatively contribute to Global Warming.

Below is a chart detailing in ascending order of commonly-used refrigerants and their GWP. Please keep in mind that these values do change, and the GWPs listed are from respected sources like the EPA, the California Air Resources Board, Cooling Post and ACHR News.

GWP of Refrigerants

For more information about refrigerants, like an R12 to R134a conversion chart and more, check out related articles in the Knowledge Base for cold side equipment