Cooling System Installations and Repairs

A meaningful number of summer callouts are solved in five minutes, and we would rather you keep the money. Check the switchboard for a tripped breaker or safety switch. Check the filters behind the indoor head or at the return air grille, because a blocked filter starves the coil and can ice it up until nothing comes out. And check the remote or controller is in cool mode with the setpoint below room temperature, not in fan, dry or a leftover timer.

If the outdoor unit is not spinning at all, or the breaker trips again immediately after resetting, stop there. Repeated resets on a compressor fault do further damage.

Diagnosis is a process of elimination with gauges, a meter and a clamp. We measure the temperature split across the indoor coil, check running current against the nameplate, test capacitors under load and read pressures before deciding anything.

A refrigeration circuit is sealed. If it is short of refrigerant, there is a hole in it somewhere, usually at a flare, a braze joint, or a coil that has corroded. Adding gas without addressing that means paying for refrigerant that will be in the atmosphere within a season, and it is poor practice under ARC licensing.

We pressure test, use electronic detection or dye where required, repair the leak, evacuate the system to remove air and moisture, then weigh in the correct charge. It costs more on the day than a top up and less over two summers. Where the leak is in an old coil and the repair cost approaches replacement, we say so.

Age is the first filter. Under about eight years, most faults are worth repairing. Over twelve, a major failure such as a compressor or a leaking indoor coil rarely justifies the spend, particularly on systems still running R22 or older R410A equipment where parts and gas are getting expensive.

The second filter is what the replacement buys you. A current inverter system uses materially less power than a fixed speed unit from 2010, is quieter, and if it is reverse cycle it takes over your winter heating as well. When we quote a replacement we include what the new system will cost to run so the comparison is complete.

You get a booking window rather than a vague day, and a call before we arrive. On site we diagnose, then explain what we found and what it costs before doing the work. Common parts such as capacitors, contactors and fan motors are on the van, so a good proportion of repairs finish on the first visit.

Anything electrical is completed under REC 37223 with a Certificate of Electrical Safety, refrigerant work is done under ARC licence, and the labour carries our 100% workmanship guarantee. If we recommend replacement rather than repair, the diagnostic fee comes off the replacement if you proceed with us.