September 28, 2026 · Dallas and Austin
The EPA still allows some R-410A air conditioners to be installed in Dallas and Austin
A May 2026 EPA rule lets contractors install leftover R-410A systems built before 2025 until that stock is gone. Here is what that changes on a Dallas or Austin replacement.
Based on reporting from National Association of Home Builders, published May 26, 2026.
On May 26, 2026, the National Association of Home Builders reported that the EPA published a final rule letting homes keep receiving HVAC units that were manufactured or imported before January 1, 2025 and that use R-410A. Those units can be installed until the existing supply is gone. The rule took effect July 27, 2026. Before the amendment, a split system from that older stock was not supposed to be installed after January 1, 2026.
That is an installation rule for leftover equipment. It is not an order to replace the air conditioner you already have. An R-410A system that is cooling the house can stay in service, and manufacturers are still making parts for those systems. NAHB also noted that new complete R-410A systems are no longer being manufactured, so the warehouse stock will run out, and that R-410A refrigerant production is scheduled to fall to 15 percent of current output by 2036. Repair refrigerant will get harder to find on that schedule. It is not gone this summer.
What to ask on a Dallas or Austin quote
A 2026 replacement in Dallas–Fort Worth or Greater Austin may be leftover R-410A equipment or a new system built for an A2L refrigerant such as R-454B or R-32. Those are different jobs. Ask which refrigerant the outdoor unit uses, whether the indoor and outdoor sections are a matched pair, and whether the price is for remaining pre-2025 stock or for equipment being built now.
NAHB pointed out that some states kept the original January 1, 2026 installation cutoff. New York did. The article does not put Texas in that group. The quote should still say which equipment you are buying, because a cheaper leftover R-410A condenser is not the same scope as a new A2L system with the sensors that equipment requires.
If the system you have is R-410A and a part will fix it, the EPA rule is not a reason to replace it. If you are replacing it, the useful comparison is the equipment on each quote, the refrigerant, and whether the attic ducts in a Dallas house or the long flex runs in a newer Austin suburb can actually move the air.
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