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When Should I Top Off My Refrigerant?

Never. The only people that are qualified to handle refrigerant are professional technicians. Not only that, but the fact of the matter is that your air conditioner should not need to have refrigerant added to it if everything is fine with your system. Refrigerant is not a fuel that is consumed, like gasoline. It is a heat transfer fluid operating in a closed loop system, and is recycled continuously. If indeed your refrigerant levels are low, it means that your system either wasn’t properly charged to begin with, or that you’ve developed a leak.

Why Is a Refrigerant Leak Such a Concern?

An air conditioner doesn’t just pull cool air out of, well, the air. Instead, the air that is already in your home is pulled into the system. The refrigerant in the system evaporates in the evaporator coil, and this allows it to draw heat out of the air. Once it has done so, the refrigerant makes its way outside in order to disperse the heat into the air, while the cool air is distributed throughout the house.

If there is not a sufficient amount of refrigerant in the system, then it is going to struggle to cool the air effectively. This means that your home likely won’t be as comfortable as it otherwise would be, and you’ll probably wind up paying more money for less comfort. Of course, this is going to put a lot of strain on your air conditioner as well, which can lead to repair needs.

It is not enough that you just have refrigerant added to the system, though. You need to have the leaks fixed by qualified, trained professionals. Just call the technicians on our staff to ensure that everything is in prime working condition.

Schedule your AC services in Raleigh, NC with Ideal Services Heating & Cooling.