Service no limits!

Over the last 20 years, car aircon has become mainstream. In the past, only top of the range cars had aircon and even then it was an expensive option whereas today you almost cannot purchase a new vehicle without aircon, so your Fiat Panda and Smart for instance both have aircon as standard.

The first car I remember with aircon was the Rover SD1 V8S which my Dad had as a company car back in the late 1970s, it was greatly appreciated one year when we toured Europe and he was able to keep the family super cool, this was much talked about as it was still very unusual unless you had a Rolls or similar.

So fast forward to today. Many drivers have never really thought about the best way to use the car aircon system so I wish to give all of my many readers (thanks Penny) some pointers as follows….and see this excellent article https://innovatecar.com/how-car-air-conditioning-systems-work/

1. Think of the car aircon as a fridge. You would never think about unplugging your house fridge if you leave the house for a weekend or even a month. And the reason is the same, the fridge has a compressor which pumps gas through a series of tubes. If those tubes dry out then they can leak, just like the car aircon system.
2. My suggestion is therefore to keep the car aircon system always switched on to prevent these problems. It is NOT true that you will consume more of the aircon gas by keeping the system active, instead you keep the system lubricated and thus efficient.
3. Dont forget that the air conditioning system removes humidity from the air inside the car. So this is fantastic even when the weather is cool or cold simply because it helps you to clear the windscreen and side windows quickly. Using the car heater will take much longer as the air is still humid.
4. The ideal temperature to set is 22 degrees and this works all year round. The car will struggle to achieve this (the system must work very hard) as and when the ambient temperature reaches into the 30s and thus the fuel consumption of your car will suffer but not by more than a few percent, how much will depend upon many factors. In general the smaller engined cars will have to work harder and the bigger the engine the less hard the system must work.
5. Every two or three years you should have the car aircon system serviced. Some of the gas in the system will leak out and when the gas level falls then the system cannot be as efficient as it should be. The service costs around 100 Pounds (120 Euro) and consists of attaching a machine to the car which firstly draws out the old gas, tests the system for leaks and then refills the system with the correct volume of new gas. The oil should also be replaced (the aircon oil) as well as the cabin filter so the car interior also smells better.

OK?? Please send any questions or comment they are always appreciated!!