R-22 — the refrigerant many Sacramento homeowners still call 'freon' — runs $100 to $180 per pound in 2026 because it's been out of U.S. production since January 1, 2020 under EPA Clean Air Act Section 608 (the HCFC phaseout). R-410A, used in most systems installed since 2010, typically runs $50 to $100 per pound. R-454B and R-32, the new low-GWP refrigerants phasing in on 2026 equipment, are priced closer to R-410A levels but still settling.
Most residential systems carry 5 to 10 pounds of refrigerant, so a full recharge on an older R-22 system can run $800 to $1,800 in refrigerant cost alone — often exceeding the value of the equipment.
The more important answer: refrigerant is a closed loop. If your system is low, it's because the refrigerant is leaking out somewhere — not because the system 'used it up.' Recharging a leaking system without finding and fixing the leak is pouring money into the atmosphere. A proper diagnosis uses electronic leak detection or nitrogen pressure testing to find the leak, repair or replace the leaking component, evacuate the system to a deep vacuum, and then recharge to the manufacturer's specified weight.
If the leak is at a flare fitting or a Schrader valve, repair is cheap. If the leak is in the evaporator coil, the economics change quickly — a new evaporator on a 12-plus-year-old R-22 system usually argues for replacement instead.