How much does it cost to have refrigerant added to an air conditioner?
It is illegal in most countries now to simply “top up” any leaking a/c or refrigeration system, as well as it being the lazy solution to a problem. Refrigerant leaking into atmosphere causes deterioration of ozone. In Australia all refrigeration mechanics have legal obligations to find and repair leaks in systems or evacuate and shut down faulty system. Also anyone selling 1 week courses in a/c repair is the scamming scum and anyone thinking you can learn how to repair most a/c problems in a week is an idiot. Also if your system is short it is absolutely due to a leak. Refrigerant does not dissipate or run out inside a sealed system. Ideally a refrigeration system will hold its charge for as long as it is in service.
Because of mandated production cuts in R-22 (the most common household refrigerant) the cost of “freon” has doubled over the last couple of years. In the industry the cost per pound off of the service truck will run between 20-45 dollars a pound. A typical service call shouldn’t be more than 65-95 dollars. Most technicians should inform the customer of the high probability of a leak in their systems and the good technicians should let the customer decide whether or not to find their leak or just see how long the charge will last, this decision is this solely the customers, its their equipment and they run the risk of damaging it. A technician will want to spend a lot of time seriously checking every aspect of the system. They may be saving themselves and the customer another service call. Remember you want a serviceman, not a salesman coming to your home.
