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How to Use the Refrigerant Leak Calculator
Pick Leak Rate from Top-Up History when you know how much refrigerant was added, or Charge Loss Projection when you already know the annual rate.
Select the refrigerant, choose pounds or kilograms, and enter the full system charge from the nameplate.
For history, enter the refrigerant added and the months since the last full charge. For a projection, enter the annual leak rate and the months to project.
Press Calculate Leak to see the annual rate, the loss per year, the CO2e emissions, the cost if you entered one, and the Canadian rules that apply to the charge.
Refrigerant leaks: rate, cost and the Canadian rules
A leak is cheap to ignore for a season and expensive to ignore for a few years. Every top-up is refrigerant the owner pays for twice, once in the cylinder and once in the lost capacity, and every kilogram that escapes carries its GWP with it. The calculator puts a number on the rate, the loss and the cost so the repair can be argued from the figures.
How the leak rate is worked out
From top-up history, the leak rate is the refrigerant added divided by the system charge, divided again by the time in years. A system that holds 8.5 lb of R-410A and needed 2.0 lb after 8 months works out to (2.0 / 8.5) / (8 / 12) = 35.3% a year, which is 3.00 lb or 1.36 kg lost each year. At a GWP of 2,088 that is 2.84 t CO2e a year, and at $35 a pound it is $105.00 of refrigerant. Two assumptions sit behind the result. The system was at full charge when the clock started, and the top-up brought it back to full. If it started low, the true rate is higher than the one shown. In projection mode the calculator goes the other way, from a known rate to the loss over the period you choose.
Reading the rate
The bands on the results panel, under 10%, 10% to under 25%, 25% to under 50% and 50% and over, are rules of thumb for how urgent a repair is. They are not regulatory limits. Canada's federal rules do not use a leak-rate percentage at all. They look at the size of the system and the quantity released, which the next sections cover. The "time to lose a full charge" line shows how long the system would last at a constant loss if nobody topped it up, a useful way to explain the problem to an owner.
Where leaks are found
On residential splits, the usual suspects are Schrader valve cores, flare connections at both units, and evaporator coils that suffer formicary corrosion. On commercial refrigeration, look at brazed joints, valve packings and coil connections first. An electronic detector rated for the refrigerant is the main tool, ultrasonic detectors suit large leaks, and fluorescent dye helps with small ones. When the detector finds nothing but the charge keeps dropping, a nitrogen holding test narrows the search, and the pressure decay test calculator shows how to read the drop in pressure over time.
Leak tests and repairs under the Federal Halocarbon Regulations
The Federal Halocarbon Regulations, 2022 divide systems at 10 kg of halocarbon. A system above that line needs a leak test by a certified person at least once every calendar year and no more than 15 months after the previous test. Systems of 10 kg or less have no periodic test. In every case a leak test is required before charging, and a system may not be charged only to leak test it. When a leak is found in a system of any size, a certified person must repair it, isolate and recover the leaking section, or recover the refrigerant, no later than seven days after detection. The results panel shows which of these applies to the charge you entered. R-290 and R-744 are not halocarbons, so these rules do not apply to them by refrigerant type.
Reporting a release
Section 24 and section 25 of the regulations set the reporting rules for a release. An owner reports a release of 100 kg or more within 24 hours of detection and follows up in writing within 30 days. A release of more than 10 kg and less than 100 kg goes into a report filed twice a year, by July 31 for releases detected from January 1 to June 30 and by January 31 for those detected from July 1 to December 31. The calculator flags a projected loss that crosses 10 kg so the owner knows a report may be due. Provincial regulations may add requirements, so check with the provincial environment ministry as well.
Keeping the record
For a system that holds more than 10 kg, the owner keeps an inventory and an activity log with an entry for each installation, service, permanent withdrawal or transfer. Copies stay on site for at least five years. Smaller systems need an entry only for service that could lead to a release. Weigh the cylinder before and after each job and log the difference, then carry it into the maintenance log calculator so the top-ups line up with the leak rate over time.
What a leak costs
The direct cost is the refrigerant, which the optional cost field turns into dollars a year. The indirect costs are the capacity and efficiency lost as the charge falls, and the emissions, which depend on the refrigerant. The same 3.00 lb a year is 2.84 t CO2e for R-410A but far less for a low-GWP refrigerant, and the refrigerant GWP calculator compares refrigerants over a whole service life.
Frequently Asked Questions
Divide the refrigerant added by the system charge, then divide by the time in years. The Example button uses a system that holds 8.5 lb of R-410A and needed 2.0 lb after 8 months. That is (2.0 / 8.5) / (8 / 12) = 35.3% a year, or 3.00 lb (1.36 kg) lost a year. The result assumes the system was at full charge at the start and was topped up to full.
The Federal Halocarbon Regulations, 2022 do not set a leak rate percentage. They work from the size of the system and the quantity released. A system holding more than 10 kg of halocarbon needs a leak test every calendar year, and any leak has to be repaired or the refrigerant recovered within seven days of detection. Rules that use leak rate percentages, such as 35%, come from other jurisdictions.
Yes, above certain quantities. The owner reports a release of 100 kg or more within 24 hours of detection and follows up in writing within 30 days. A release of more than 10 kg and less than 100 kg is reported twice a year, by July 31 for releases from January 1 to June 30 and by January 31 for releases from July 1 to December 31. Provincial rules may add to these.
A leak test is required before charging a system with halocarbon, and you may not charge a system only to leak test it. The leak itself has to be repaired, the leaking section isolated and recovered, or the refrigerant recovered, by a certified person no later than seven days after it is detected. The Charge Loss Projection Example shows why topping up is costly: 25 kg of R-404A at 15% a year loses 3.75 kg, or 14.71 t CO2e, every year.