Throughout our many years of servicing and installing residential air-conditioning around Brisbane, we have lost count of the people who ask for our help because their air-conditioner “needs a re-gas”. This is usually not the case, and here is why.
This early diagnosis from the customer comes from their experience with their car air-conditioning, and this is understandable. Usually, when your car air-conditioning loses its cool, it requires a regas. Car air-conditioners use rubber or other plastic connections and hoses which are vastly different to your home air-conditioner. Plastics usually become porous over time which contributes to refrigerant loss in car systems. Combine this material use with the conditions that your car air-conditioners have to deal with; such as heavy and continued road vibration and debris, and you can see how car systems are prone to losing gas. Your mechanic probably recommends a regas every few years.
However, your home air-conditioner should rarely lose its gas. The connections are made by special tools that seal mechanically. The pipes use copper, which is not porous in nature. And there should be only two places that the gas could leak out of. When installed, these connection points should be sealed by trained professionals using a special ‘flaring’ tool. The refrigeration mechanic will then pressure test the system before running it. If the system holds pressure, it should hold that for the life of the system.
Usually when newer systems that are under one-year-old lose their refrigerant, it is due to a manufacturing fault or poor sealing of the connection. When you use Advanced Air for your new air-conditioner install, our installation work is guaranteed for one year. We also only install reputable brands that have long term histories of quality manufacturing and honouring their warranties. Brands such as Daikin, Fujitsu, Actron and Temperzone have a great reputation to uphold so claims are few and far between for manufacturing faults, and our tradespeople are all from commercial backgrounds so take extra care on connections.
If older systems don’t seem as cold, it may be due to improper maintenance. Not serving your air-conditioner regularly (at least quarterly or annually, depending on use), will cause the efficiency to drop. We can help with that. If your air-conditioner is over 5 years old and it is not cooling as well as it used to, it may just be time to replace it. Manufacturers are constantly improving the longevity of systems, but with our climate 7 years is an average lifespan of a good brand with regular maintenance. Some last longer, some less, but none will last forever.
If your air-con doesn’t seem as cool anymore, we can diagnose the fault for a small call out fee. If it turns out you need a new air-conditioner and you purchase one through us, we refund this fee.
So if you have been quoted a regas for your home air-conditioner, question if its economical to do so and is it really going to improve the cooling?
Organise a call out to service your home air-conditioner around Brisbane by clicking here.
