Advanced options
2-3 years is normal; under 1 means a leak
GBP 10 DIY, GBP 30-50 fitted
O-rings GBP 50-100, condenser GBP 150-300
0 = none; the GBP 39 offer is usually R134a only
Air con loses ~10% of its gas a year through the seals by design: gradually-less-cold after 3-5 years is normal ageing and a regas fixes it: warm again MONTHS after a regas means a leak, and paying for gas that escapes is renting cold air: leak-find first, regas second. The newer-car gotcha: R1234yf refrigerant (roughly 2014+) costs nearly double R134a per regas: check which yours takes before comparing quotes, because the GBP 39 offer is usually the old gas only.
What The Car Aircon Regas Calculator Works Out
- Cost: the regas price for your refrigerant plus any add-on quoted. R134a systems in most cars before roughly 2014 run GBP 50-70; the newer R1234yf is GBP 100-120, nearly double per fill, which is why the GBP 39 headline offer is usually the old gas only.
- Reading your symptom: gradual weakening over 3-5 years is the designed-in 10% a year seal loss and a regas fixes it; warm again months after a regas means a leak, so leak detection comes before a second fill; cold but musty is evaporator bacteria that no quantity of gas addresses.
- Worth knowing: run the air con ten minutes a week year-round to keep the seals oiled, dry the evaporator by running the fan with A/C off for the last minutes of a journey, and remember a regas is in neither the MOT nor most service schedules.
- Years between regasses (advanced): how long a fill lasts on your car. Two to three years is normal; under about 18 months means gas is escaping faster than the seals alone explain, and the calculator flags it.
- Cost per year and over your ownership (advanced): the visit cost (including an optional cabin filter change, GBP 10 DIY or GBP 30-50 fitted) divided by the interval, and the number of visits over the years you keep the car.
- Fix-the-leak route (advanced): a GBP 60 UV dye or nitrogen trace, your repair budget (hose O-rings GBP 50-100, a stone-damaged condenser GBP 150-300 fitted) and one regas, followed by normal three-year regasses for the rest of the ownership.
- Renting cold air instead (advanced): what regassing a leaking system every year costs over the same period. On most inputs it overtakes the repair within two to three years, which is the arithmetic behind "leak-find first, regas second".
- DIY can vs proper regas (advanced): a GBP 25 top-up can every year against professional regasses. The can has no vacuum stage, removes no moisture and risks the wrong charge weight, so it is a diagnostic punt on an old car rather than maintenance.
- That headline quote (advanced): compares a quote you have seen with the typical price for your gas. A quote well below the R1234yf norm is usually an R134a-only price; ask whether it includes a vacuum, a leak check and the full charge weight.