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Vermont Veterans Home seeks $730,000 to replace 80 R‑22 air handlers after EPA phase‑out
Summary
Vermont Veterans Home told the Corrections & Institutions Committee it needs $730,000 to replace 80 aging air handlers tied to a geothermal system because the EPA phase‑out of R‑22 refrigerant and lack of available parts have left the units failing intermittently.
The Vermont Veterans Home told the Corrections & Institutions Committee on Feb. 5 that it needs $730,000 to replace 80 air handlers tied to its geothermal system after the EPA-mandated phase-out of R‑22 refrigerant.
Officials said the replacements are needed to maintain heating and air conditioning for residents and that many of the existing units are at the end of their useful life. "This has been required by the EPA. So we must replace 80 of our air handlers that are associated with our geothermal, and we anticipate this cost to be $730,000," Melissa Jackson, CEO of the Vermont Veterans Home, said.
Why it matters: Home leadership said the air handlers have been in place roughly 20 years and are failing intermittently, creating reliability and resident‑care risks. "We have already been using units in non resident areas to scrap for parts and different, ways to make the most critical units functioning, but we're at a point where we can no longer get the refrigerant or the parts for the for the units themselves because they are, at the end of their life cycle," said Steven McClafferty, finance director at the Vermont Veterans Home.
Committee members pressed for more detail on timing and prioritization. A committee member asked whether the $730,000 would finish the work and whether the units could be repaired or the refrigerant recaptured; staff said there is a lead time of several months to order replacement air handlers and that recapture options are limited. "If you could just get us a breakdown of what you know, like, critical, medium, not so critical, that would be great," a committee member said, and Jackson agreed to provide a prioritized list.
No formal vote or funding decision was recorded during the testimony. Home officials said they would order units once funding is approved and that installation could occur within the fiscal year, subject to the manufacturers' lead times and procurement processes.
The committee asked staff for a prioritized replacement plan and clearer timelines to support any future budget decision; no further action was taken at the Feb. 5 hearing.
