A new safety standard for American refrigerators

A new US standard allows household fridges and freezers to use up to 150 grams of hydrocarbon refrigerants instead of the current limit of 57 grams.
The US Underwriters Laboratories (UL) has adopted a new safety standard, UL 60335-2-24 Edition 2, that will allow domestic fridges and freezers to use up to 150?g of hydrocarbon refrigerants like propane and isobutane. Until now, only 57?g were allowed by the previous version of the standard. US lagged behind other countries which have been using hydrocarbon fridges for over a decade. In the meantime, US consumers have continued to purchase around 12 million new fridges a year using R134a, which is scheduled for phase out in domestic fridges in 2021.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must now update existing regulations to incorporate the new safety standard.

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