Refrigerant Courses & Questions
Disposal of Refrigerants
The wholesalers of refrigerants have a national program that will dispose of all refrigerants collected from ELVs.
R12 cannot be reused and must be disposed by the wholesalers.
HFC134a can be reused by shops as long as it is not contaminated with propane. You can get a “sniffer” to test for propane in the refrigeration unit. Lordco has some different brands of “sniffers” such as the White brand and cost in the $300-$350 range. Another popular brand is Robinair.
If you want the wholesalers to dispose of your refrigerant, go to their website and scroll to the very bottom of the page, select the closest city, and find the wholesaler nearest you.
Note that the only cost of disposal is the shipping costs back to Ontario – that’s about $80 in B.C.
Members report that about 50% of the HFC134a collected is contaminated. This was a high percentage. Refrigerant businesses will use your HFC134a if the HFC134a is not contaminated. The contaminated HFC134a will need be be disposed of by a refrigerant wholesaler.
Remember that R12 cannot be reused and must be disposed of by a refrigerant wholesaler. To find the wholesaler nearest you go to www.hrai.ca.
Refrigerant Courses
To remove refrigerants from end-of-life vehicles, the person must have completed an environmental awareness course and obtain an Interprovincial Certificate issued by the HRAI (Heating, Refrigerant and Air Conditioning Institute). In addition, the person must have a valid automotive technician certificate or had one-year of experience in dismantling vehicles.
The following colleges offer the one day course:
BCIT – Automotive
604-432-8205
BCIT – HVAC
Nancy Naylor
604-456-8027
Certificates
Upon successful completion, participants receive an HRAI/Environment Canada/B.C. Environment Certificate in CFC/HCFC/HFC Controls, and a certificate number for refrigerant handling as required under current B.C. regulations.
The BCIT course is a one-day course offered once a month on Saturdays. The cost is $175. Go to http://www.bcit.ca/study/courses/hvac0145 for more information or registration.
The Okanagan College course is also a one-day course and an online course is also available. The one-day course is offered periodically with no set schedule. The online course can be completed at any time.
Call 1-888-638-0058 if you have any problems with the online registration instructions below.
On the Okanagan College online registration form, select the appropriate time in the TERM section (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter). Then select the Kelowna campus in the CAMPUS section. Then select Trades and Apprenticeship in the CATEGORY section. Then hit SEARCH.
The course number is CON 022.
The cost of the online course is $150.
Course Outline: CFC/HCFC/HFC Control in the Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Industry Training
A one-day environmental awareness training course program based on Environment Canada’s “Code of Practice for Reducing CFC Emissions in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Systems”. The course and the accompanying Participant Manual deal with environmentally-correct equipment design, proper handling of CFC/HCFC/HFCs, and will prepare participants for complying with provincial regulations covering refrigeration and air conditioning systems. Participants who attend the course and successfully achieve a mark of 75% or higher on the exam will receive certification in the form on an Ozone Depletion Prevention (ODP) card (Ontario only) or an Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) card (all other provinces). HRAI will conduct on-site training for this one-day environmental awareness training course.
This course is suitable for residential, commercial, industrial, domestic, automotive, and mobile applications. Specific topics covered are: CFCs and the ozone layer, isolation valving, recommended components, leak detection methods, system charging procedures, special maintenance provisions, and refrigerant recovery, reuse, recycle, and reclamation equipment.
The course includes:
- CFCs and the Ozone Layer
- Global Efforts to Reduce CFC/HCFC/HFC Emissions
- The Significance of the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry
- The Code of Practice
- Minimizing Emissions
- Recommended Standard Practices
- Commercial/Industrial Systems
- Residential Systems
- Domestic Appliances
- Mobile Systems
- Summary of Current Federal Regulations on CFC’s and Halons
- Recovering, Reusing, Recycling, and Reclaiming Techniques
- Provincial Regulations
- Supplementary Information for the Recommended Standard Practices
This course is strictly theory and does not incorporate hands-on training.