Closing the Hole: How Hearth & Ice Reduces, Reuses, and Recycles HVAC Elements

Have you ever ever questioned the place the scrap metallic, elements, and parts out of your previous heating and cooling unit find yourself after having a brand new one put in? Does it go to a landfill? What elements are recyclable? Who’s liable for recycling the elements?

If in case you have requested your self any of those questions, you are in the proper place!

HVAC methods include a considerable quantity of supplies, together with plastics, valuable metals, and refrigerants.

Take into account that correct recycling of HVAC tools is just not required; nevertheless, it’s higher for the setting and economic system. To not point out, it can additionally lower our general waste, improve the preservation of our pure assets, and assist preserve your HVAC system out of landfills for a number of years to come back.

At Hearth & Ice, we need to present our group and our competitors how a lot we care in regards to the setting and the way we’re getting concerned to assist the Central Ohio group an exquisite (and clear) place to dwell, work, and go to.

This text will discover what HVAC elements can/can’t be recycled and why, the advantages of recycling your previous HVAC tools, our efforts in making a cleaner metropolis, and become involved.

Let’s get began!

What HVAC Elements Can Be Recycled?

Earlier than stepping into the weeds of all of it, whether or not you are contemplating investing in a brand new HVAC system or not, it is best to know what HVAC elements can and may’t be recycled in order that when the time comes to exchange your HVAC system, you realize precisely how your unit shall be disposed of.

Are you aware the 4 elements of an HVAC unit that may be recycled? Did you guess the refrigerant, valuable metals (and different metals), packaging supplies, and electrical waste? 

If that’s the case, you are already forward of the sport, however for many who did not, preserve studying to study extra.

Refrigerant

Also referred to as “Freon,” is used for our out of doors air-con unit and warmth pump. Refrigerant is a chemical compound that works by turning a liquid right into a fuel and again to a liquid. Air conditioners and warmth pumps want refrigerant to carry out correctly and function at their highest power effectivity.

Bear in mind: refrigerant is a extremely poisonous chemical confirmed as an ozone-depleting substance and will solely be dealt with by knowledgeable.

Metals & Treasured Metals

Copper: Many individuals don’t know this, however copper is a valuable metallic hiding in your HVAC system. Copper is a metallic that may be taken from completely different elements of your HVAC system, together with inside your coil, copper wiring, and all HVAC mainline units are produced from copper piping. 

Aluminum: The evaporator coil inside your HVAC’s blower compartment is product of aluminum. The blower compartment is liable for holding the chilled refrigerant that the system’s compressor moved into it earlier than distributing chilled air all through your own home. 

Metal: The cupboards surrounding your HVAC tools are product of metal, which is an appropriate recyclable materials that’s normally recycled as scrap metallic.

At Hearth & Ice, we’re a “retrofit” firm, which implies putting in new or modified elements or tools in one thing beforehand manufactured or constructed. That mentioned, we will set up new ductwork, however most of our recyclable metal comes from repairing or making a ductwork transition to make sure correct airflow.

Packaging Supplies/ Cardboard

As an organization, we obtain all our HVAC methods (furnace, air conditioner, mini-split, warmth pump, and so forth.), Parts (coil, line units, compressor, and so forth.), and different HVAC odds and ends, are despatched/delivered in a cardboard field.

Within the HVAC trade, you aren’t legally required to recycle packaging. Nonetheless, at Hearth & Ice, we perceive the significance of recycling, even when it takes just a little additional money and time. We need to lead by instance and do the proper factor for our workers, clients, the group, and our surroundings.

In truth, at our warehouse, now we have a separate dumpster only for recycling, which will get crammed to the brim a minimum of twice per week. On prime of that, we recycle in our workplace, together with papers, Amazon packing containers, and workplace paper waste.

Electrical Waste

When recycling electrical waste within the HVAC trade, there are usually solely two elements that may be recycled: thermostats and circuit boards.

Thermostats

We are able to recycle previous thermostats; nevertheless, relying on how previous the thermostat is, it may include mercury. Mercury is taken into account hazardous waste and should be disposed of correctly.

For instance, at Hearth and Ice, we take each thermostat and mercury stat and put it in a field to be picked up from our warehouse to be disposed of correctly.

It’s essential to notice that though it’s the regulation to get rid of refrigerant and mercury correctly, many HVAC corporations don’t do it appropriately.

Sure, disposing of those supplies may be thought-about a problem, particularly because it takes up extra time, effort, and area. Nonetheless, it is a crucial step when recycling your previous tools.

Circuit Boards

Once we flip in/get rid of an previous HVAC system, the circuit boards are reduce out and sorted into classes.

For instance, a circuit board accommodates supplies, comparable to silver and copper wiring, which may be shredded or melted for use once more.

How Does Refrigerant Get Recycled?

Do you know you should be licensed by the Environmental Safety Company (EPA) to deal with refrigerant? As beforehand talked about, refrigerant is an especially hazardous materials and will solely be managed by a refrigerant-certified HVAC skilled.

If your organization means that you can work on HVAC models and refrigerants with out certification, or in case you are improperly disposing of refrigerant (ex: turning the nozzle for a sluggish launch), you and/or your employer can stand up to a $35,000 nice.

That mentioned, at Hearth and Ice, we make a degree to coach and certify all of our HVAC technicians and installers BEFORE they will contact ANY refrigerant.

We now have the town’s largest HVAC coaching facility to make sure all of our HVAC technicians and installers are as much as code and may safely and correctly take away refrigerant.

Recovering, Reclaiming, and Recycling Refrigerant

In grade faculty, you almost certainly discovered in regards to the three R’s: cut back, reuse, and recycle; nevertheless, when recycling refrigerant, the three R’s flip into recovering, reclaiming, and recycling.

By regulation, all refrigerants should be despatched to a reclamation middle; take into account, if you happen to’ve blended refrigerants, you CANNOT reuse them, and it must be correctly destroyed. 

At Hearth & Ice, we reclaim refrigerant from a machine, ship it off to be recycled, and can reuse it. So after we get the refrigerant again, it’s like new and can be utilized because it usually can be.

Enjoyable truth: Do you know that 95% of all refrigerants/freon available on the market are reclaimed? Utilizing reclaimed and recycled refrigerant is a typical HVAC follow.

Associated Content material: Disposing and Recycling HVAC Gear & Supplies

What HVAC Elements Can’t Be Recycled?

Although we attempt to recycle or donate every bit of disposed HVAC methods, some elements get thrown away as a result of they aren’t accepted. Let’s check out which HVAC elements should not recyclable and why.

Fiberglass

If you buy these low cost greenback or two filters, though the body is product of cardboard, they aren’t recyclable. These air filters are constructed out of fiberglass, and it has a metallic grid, neither of which is an appropriate recyclable materials.

Versatile Ductwork

Versatile ductwork is a kind of ductwork that bends and curves simpler than sheet metallic/metal ductwork. The outer shell of the versatile ductwork is a metallic wire coil coated in versatile plastic.

There may be additionally a layer of fiberglass insulation protecting the duct, which talked about above, is just not recyclable. Lastly, some flex ducts have an outer “jacket” coated in vinyl or a foil layer, which can also be not recyclable.

Plastic Parts

Although these small elements are plastic, they aren’t recyclable as a result of they’re too small. If these parts aren’t disposed of appropriately, they will jam, clog, or break a recycling facility’s sorting and bundling machines.

Why Can’t I Go away My Previous HVAC System on the Curb for Recycling to Choose up?

Consider it or not, some folks need to preserve their previous unit. We usually run into this when a home-owner desires to recycle it themselves, or they need to work on it and transfer it to a indifferent storage or shed.

You possibly can take your previous HVAC system (minus the refrigerant) to a scrap yard; nevertheless, if you happen to attempt to recycle your HVAC system your self, there may be little to no cash in recycling it by yourself except you’re a firm like Hearth & Ice, which may do it on a big scale.

It’s additionally essential to notice that it’s not “technically” unlawful to place your previous HVAC unit on the curb; nevertheless, it’s unlawful to place it on the curb with refrigerant nonetheless inside. Additionally, simply since you put it on the curb does not imply Rumpke or one other native trash/recycling collector will take it.

That mentioned, if you happen to resolve to place your previous tools on the curb for pickup, guarantee it is an accredited pickup merchandise by Rumpke, or you possibly can attempt your metropolis’s bulk assortment firm.

Why Belief Hearth & Ice For Secure Disposal of Your Previous HVAC Unit?

While you belief Hearth & Ice to get rid of your HVAC tools, we companion with a “Roll Off Dumpster” firm, Masser Metals. For over 75 years, Masser Metals has been a reliable native enterprise that correctly disposes of:

• Metal*
• Iron
• Copper*
• Aluminum*
• Brass
• Nickel
• Stainless Metal

*are metals which are recycled from an HVAC unit* 

On prime of that, to correctly dispose of those supplies, Masser Metals involves our warehouse, picks up the previous HVAC methods, takes them to their facility, separates the elements into classes, and recycles what they will and correctly get rid of what can’t.

What Are the Advantages of Recycling Your Previous HVAC Gear and Supplies?

Recycling your previous HVAC tools and supplies has a number of group, financial, and environmental advantages.

Neighborhood Advantages

Hearth & Ice reduces, reuses, and recycles HVAC methods and elements by donating them to Fortis School. Fortis is an area school specializing in particular trades, together with however not restricted to nursing, dental, healthcare, medical know-how, and expert trades, comparable to HVAC and electrical work. 

At Hearth & Ice, we perceive the significance of commerce work and giving again to your group, and our proprietor and founder, Scott Merritt, has been a board member for a number of years and has a longstanding partnership with Fortis School.

As a way to assist the subsequent era study technical trades, we donate new HVAC methods (or ones we will not promote), electrical items, and elements, like wires, contactors, and transformers.

Additionally Learn: Hearth & Ice and Columbus HVAC Faculties: Partnering for Success

Financial Advantages

While you resolve to recycle your previous HVAC models, it places valuable metals, packaging supplies, and electrical waste again into our economic system, making a round economic system.

A round economic system is designed to advertise our sustainable efforts by preserving supplies, merchandise, and different disposables in use for so long as doable, finally decreasing the quantity of waste going to our landfills.

Environmental Advantages

Recycling your previous HVAC unit helps preserve pure assets, for instance, water, soil, metals, and so forth. Reusing supplies from previous HVAC models means much less digging into our earth’s core to uncover virgin supplies, which helps fight the adverse environmental penalties when extracting minerals and assets.

One other environmental advantage of recycling your previous HVAC system is decreasing greenhouse fuel emissions. As talked about at the start of this text, refrigerant is taken into account a hazardous materials.

If these refrigerants should not correctly recycled and get launched into our ambiance, it contributes to our world warming and local weather change disaster. So, please maintain your trusted HVAC firm accountable for the authorized and protected disposal of refrigerants.

What’s Subsequent?

At Hearth & Ice, we’re extending our group, economic system, and environmental efforts by means of our new “Sponsor A Freeway” marketing campaign. What does this imply for you?

Effectively, we’re sponsoring over 200 miles of freeway all through central Ohio. As soon as a month, pick-up crews shall be despatched to every of our mile markers, and they’re going to clear up the litter, take it to a recycling facility, recycle what they will, and correctly get rid of what they will’t.

This group effort circles again to having Hearth & Ice correctly get rid of your previous HVAC system as a result of the cash we gather from recycling the tools, items, and elements goes again into the group for using pickup crews.

How To Get Concerned

Are you questioning how one can become involved in serving to our group with our litter and recycling issues? There are numerous methods Columbus residents can become involved and clear up Columbus, together with:

• Becoming a member of your local people trash pick-up crew
• Educate pals, household, and coworkers about recycling
• Partake in composting and recycling efforts
• Working in direction of making a zero-waste way of life

Keep tuned for information and updates about our inexperienced initiatives, together with the upcoming launch of our “Sponsor a Freeway” marketing campaign in the summertime of 2023.

We stay up for making our group higher!