Refrigerant leak mitigation system

A heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system operable to mitigate refrigerant leaks before leaks are detected, the HVAC system comprising:

• an indoor unit including an indoor fan and an indoor heat exchanger;
• a furnace coupled to the indoor unit;
• an outdoor unit including an outdoor heat exchanger and a compressor;
• a refrigerant circuit including a refrigerant circulated between the indoor unit and the outdoor unit;
• a normally closed solenoid valve coupled to the refrigerant circuit and arranged to control the flow of refrigerant to the indoor heat exchanger, wherein the normally closed solenoid valve is electrically connected in series with the indoor fan such that the normally closed solenoid valve opens in response to the fan receiving power to allow refrigerant to flow into the heat exchanger and closes in response to the fan powering off, wherein closing the normally closed solenoid valve blocks the flow of refrigerant into the heat exchanger;
• an indoor metering device configured to adjust a refrigerant flow based on the conditioning load, the indoor metering device located a distance from the normally closed solenoid valve;
• and
• control circuitry configured to:
• operate the HV AC system to satisfy a cooling conditioning load by circulating the refrigerant through the refrigerant circuit and operating the indoor fan, wherein powering off the indoor fan closes the normally closed solenoid valve to block the flow of the refrigerant from the compressor to the indoor heat exchanger.

A method of mitigating the impact of refrigerant leaks prior to leaks being detected, the method comprising:

• circulating a refrigerant in a refrigerant circuit between an indoor unit that includes an indoor fan and an indoor heat exchanger and an outdoor unit that includes an outdoor heat exchanger and a compressor to satisfy a conditioning load, wherein the indoor unit includes an indoor metering device configured to adjust a refrigerant flow based on the conditioning load;
• operating the indoor fan in response to the conditioning load;
• and
• closing a normally closed solenoid valve to block the flow of the refrigerant to the indoor heat exchanger in response to the indoor fan being shut off, wherein the normally closed solenoid valve is electrically connected in series with the indoor fan such that the normally closed solenoid valve opens in response to the fan receiving power to allow refrigerant to flow into the heat exchanger and closes in response to the fan powering off to block the flow of refrigerant into the heat exchanger, wherein the normally closed solenoid valve is located a distance from the indoor metering device.