6 tips to keep your car's air conditioning working well all the time

The heat has arrived, so it’s time to reach for your car’s air conditioning… and it isn’t cooling enough. If you want to avoid this, the best thing is to pay attention to these tips.

Alright, don’t say it. Is your car’s air conditioning not cooling enough? The saying goes that we usually only remember Saint Rita when it rains. And applied to the car and the summer season, the same thing happens with our vehicle’s air conditioning when the weather starts to get hot. Have you ever bothered to maintain it?

An air conditioning system works by cooling the air through a heat exchange. A gas enclosed in a circuit –the refrigerant gas– is cooled when subjected to mechanical processes that make it change from gaseous to liquid state and back again. If we pass the stream of air we are going to introduce into the cabin through the area where the gas is cold, we achieve climate control inside it. But the system needs many components: compressor, evaporator, the pipes containing the gas… And like any mechanism, especially if it goes long periods without being used, it needs care.

By following these tips you will manage to stay nice and cool in summer, and you will keep your car’s air conditioning from giving you headaches… and holes in your wallet.

1. Watch out for possible faults

Some symptoms will alert us to a possible breakdown, faults or problems with the car’s air conditioning system. When the air conditioning starts cooling less, the most common cause is usually a lack of refrigerant gas. An unpleasant damp smell when switching on the air conditioning is a sign of fungi, bacteria or dust in the system, or of a worn cabin filter. If this filter becomes clogged or a duct gets blocked, the air conditioning will take a long time to cool and you will notice a loss of airflow.

2. Recharge your car’s air conditioning

An annual check-up never hurts –today my proverb-quoting side has come out– . Well, let’s not be too strict. But it is advisable to check the car’s air conditioning system at least every other year… and recharge it if necessary.

Some people advise recharging the gas in the air conditioning circuit every two years, because the circuit is supposed to lose between 15 and 20 percent of its gas naturally. But that isn’t really the case either. My advice is to do it if the climate control system starts to lose effectiveness, that is, as soon as you notice it isn’t cooling as it used to. Be careful with this issue: air conditioning gas recharges, like everything else, must be carried out by professionals and in workshops that give you guarantees. Running the car with too little gas in the circuit is as bad as overfilling it improperly and making the compressor work excessively, which can cause premature breakdowns.

How much does it cost to recharge a car’s air conditioning gas? Well, it depends. You will find workshops that offer to recharge the gas from around 50 euros, and at an official dealership you can comfortably exceed double that amount. Beware of “cheap” quotes; check carefully what they include, because the ideal is to empty the circuit and fully recharge it, as well as carry out a complete inspection for possible leaks, the condition of the compressor belt and the cabin filter. A reasonable quote for a compact car is around 75 euros. Additionally, there are also antibacterial and anti-odour ozone-based oxygenation treatments, which can push the price up to around 90 or 100 euros, although they are not essential.

3. Protect your car from the sun

It may seem silly, but my advice is to try it –if you haven’t already– and give your opinion once you’ve seen how remarkably effective it is. Using a simple sunshade to protect the cabin from solar radiation when you park the car can reduce the temperature inside by more than 10 degrees. The difference isn’t just being able to touch the steering wheel or the gear lever, or having to wait a few minutes to do so. By taking away the work of reducing that “extra” temperature in the cabin from the air conditioning, you will use less fuel, the system will suffer less, and you will reach a comfortable temperature sooner.

For the same reason, always remember to close the sunroof and its protective blind –if it has one– and keep it closed if you drive when the sun is very high.

4. Select an appropriate comfort temperature

Like any system involving machinery, if you prevent it from working at full capacity, you will extend its useful life. The same applies to air conditioning, and it should not be subjected to high loads.

Don’t be in too much of a hurry to cool the cabin; it’s better to do it gradually, even if at first you have to open the windows or even use recirculation for a few minutes so that the replacement of hot air with cold air happens sooner. Once the comfort temperature is reached, if everything is in order, it won’t be difficult to maintain it. The ideal is to set an interior temperature of around 21 degrees. If your car has climate control, set the temperature and press “auto” mode. If it doesn’t, use low or medium fan speeds, and make sure you never direct the cold air outlets straight at your body.

5. Windows up!

The only argument those who choose to lower the windows instead of switching on the air conditioning in summer can put forward is fuel consumption. And they are wrong, at least in part. Yes, a car with the air conditioning on uses slightly more fuel. But so does a car with the windows down, especially on the motorway, as it alters the aerodynamics. So things roughly even out, but the advantage of air conditioning is decisive and priceless: travelling with greater safety and more comfort, delaying the onset of fatigue.

6. Use the air conditioning in winter too

If in summer the air conditioning keeps the cabin comfortable, in winter it is a great help when it comes to clearing condensation from the windows. No, you don’t need to feel cold, don’t get that wrong. Simply use the air conditioning together with the heating. The cooling system dries the air as it cools it, and this air has a greater capacity to absorb moisture. This way you will guarantee good visibility and, incidentally, do the air conditioning system a favour, since it does no harm to switch it on from time to time in cold weather as well –a couple of times a month is enough– so that the circuit’s seals stay lubricated and don’t dry out.

Other information of interest:

10 tips to avoid nasty surprises when taking your car to the workshop