Incidents of teens huffing HVAC refrigerant in order to get high are on the rise. This can cause health problems such as difficulty breathing, irregular heart rhythms, nerve and brain damage, and even death. If your air conditioning unit isn’t effectively cooling your home during the hot summer months and your HVAC technician discovers that your system’s refrigerant is low, but finds no leak in your equipment, it is possible that someone is tampering with your system to huff the refrigerant.
To prevent these incidents, the California Mechanical Code was changed, resulting in CMC 1106.3.1. CMC 1106.3.1 mandates that all outdoor refrigerant service ports be fitted with locking-type tamper-resistant caps or be otherwise protected from unauthorized access. Locking refrigerant caps and the tools to remove them are not sold to the public; only an HVAC professional can install and remove them, ensuring that the refrigerant in your system isn’t accessible to your teens or those who would harm themselves by huffing it and that your HVAC system will continue to function effectively.
Be proactive about ensuring the health and safety of yourself and those around you. If your outdoor HVAC unit’s refrigeration ports are not currently fitted with these locking, tamper-resistant caps, contact a local air conditioning professional such as Precision Temperature today.