In the HVAC industry, RLA is an acronym that stands for “Refrigerant Leakage Allowance.” It’s a number that’s assigned to each type of refrigerant, and it’s used to determine how much of that refrigerant can be leaked before it needs to be replaced.
For example, the RLA for R-22 (freon) is 20%. That means that, if you have a pound of R-22 refrigerant in your system, you can lose up to 0.20 pounds of it before you need to add more.
RLAs are important because they help HVAC technicians and engineers to determine how often a system needs to be serviced, and how much refrigerant needs to be added during those services.
If an HVAC system is leaking more refrigerant than its RLA allows, it’s a sign that the system isn’t being maintained properly. In some cases, an RLA can be increased if the system is regularly serviced and the leaks are repaired.
If you’re not sure what the RLA is for your refrigerant, you can usually find it on the manufacturer’s website or in the owner’s manual.