Freon that's used in most air conditioners today (R-22) has already begun to be phased out..

However, R-22 will still be produced in decreasing quantities until 2020.

What does all this mean to the typical homeowner? 

The choice at this point is dependant upon several factors:

How old is your indoor evaporator coil?
How old is your condenser?
Do you want the highest efficiency available?
Do you want a unit that is environmentally friendly?
What will be the cost of R-22 as supply goes down?

When you are replacing equipment with R410A the condenser and the coil must be matched.  You can't have a coil that uses R-22 and a condenser that uses R410A.  If one piece of your cooling equipment fails you will have to look at the age of the other component to make a choice. R-22 equipment is still available, but as time goes on the selection and efficiency range that is available will go down.   In fact most manuafactures are choosing to make their high efficiency equipment (14 SEER and above) with only R410A.

This year your options are still pretty open.  But as more and more manufacturers start switching to alternate freon like R410A your options will become more narrow.  You may have to replace both the condenser and the coil, even if one of those components is still working. 

Another factor to consider is the cost of R22 freon as the supply decreases.  We saw R12 (which was phased out several years ago) go as high as $72 per pound.  And when you consider that an average system uses about 12 lbs that could get expensive in a hurry.

Yet another consideration is the cost to our environment.  HCFC's are known to deplete the ozone layer.  So by choosing equipment that uses an alternative freon you are helping to preserve our environment.

 

This freon phase out table was obtained from the EPA

Comparison of the Montreal Protocol and United States Phase out Schedules
Montreal Protocol		United States
Year to be Implemented	% Reduction in Consumption, Using the Cap as a Baseline	Year to be Implemented	Implementation of HCFC Phase out through Clean Air Act Regulations
2004	35.0%	2003	No production and no importing of HCFC-141b
2010	65.0%	2010	No production and no importing of HCFC-142b and HCFC-22, except for use in equipment manufactured before 1/1/2010 (so no production or importing for NEW equipment that uses these refrigerants)
2015	90.0%	2015	No production and no importing of any HCFC's, except for use as refrigerants in equipment manufactured before 1/1/2020
2020	99.5%	2020	No production and no importing of HCFC-142b and HCFC-22
2030	100.0%	2030	No production and no importing of any HCFC's