Need more info on R416A

[zolar1]

I have been thinking of using R416A because it's a little cheaper than R414b.

Can someone post a comparison of the two, indicating pressure temperature relationships of each, btu/hr/lb efficiencies, advantages/disadvantages of each, oil requirements, etc?

I'm tired of paying HIGH prices for R414b and want to switch to something cheaper - maybe even 401a or 401b if either are compatable with mineral oil and AB oil.

There are beginning to be just too many refrigerants to choose from and it's getting confusing. Which one does what, do I change to oil to what or not, do I have to add a heat exchanger or not, etc.......

[Don Lewis]

we use hundreds of pounds of R416a a month and it is the best replacement we have found for higher temperature R12 applications. It is compatible with mineral oil though we always use AB oil. I think you will find at lower suction pressures some of the other replacements (MP39 in particular) will outperform R416A by a small margin. We did some comparison testing of 134a and all the R12 replacements and in our application and it has greatly improved compressor life. We have about 2500 systems installed using it.