What your symptoms are telling you
A unit that blows air but never cools often points to one of three faults. It could be a refrigerant leak, since a slow leak still lets air flow while cooling fades. It could also be a failing compressor, or an outdoor coil starved of airflow by dirt and debris.
Warm air from every vent usually points to the compressor. Weak cooling that never reaches the set temperature often means refrigerant has been escaping for months. A loud grinding or rattling noise, however, is rarely a refrigerant problem.
Instead, it usually means a fan blade or a motor bearing needs attention. Water pooling near the indoor unit still points to a blocked drain, not a cooling fault.
None of this is safe to diagnose from a description alone. An older system often carries more than one small fault at once. Moreover, two different faults can look almost the same from the vent. Each of these symptoms gets a fuller look in why air conditioning stops working.
That is because so much depends on the system’s age and how it was fitted originally. The installer you are matched with starts with a proper look at the equipment before saying anything about a fix.
Why a system losing refrigerant always means a leak
Refrigerant is sealed into a system when it is fitted. Unlike fuel in a car, it is not used up by normal running. If a unit needs regular top-ups, gas is escaping somewhere in the pipework, the coil, or a connection. Simply adding more gas, without finding the leak, only delays the same call-out.
UK law says only an F-Gas certified engineer can legally handle refrigerant. Ask to see that certificate before any work on a sealed circuit begins. That is because it is a legal requirement, not just paperwork. The categories to look for are listed in air conditioning engineer qualifications.
A proper repair traces the leak first, often with an electronic detector or a dye test. It then fixes the joint or the part at fault before any gas goes back in. UK F-gas guidance says a leak found during a check must be repaired as soon as possible.
The repair should then be checked again within a month. Skipping that step, and simply topping up instead, is why some units need attention every year. A proper recharge follows the steps in how a regas works.
What a diagnostic visit actually covers
A first visit to a faulty system is a proper check, not a guess. The installer checks refrigerant pressure on both sides of the circuit, and tests the compressor’s electrical draw against its rated figures.
Then they inspect the outdoor coil for dirt or damage. The indoor unit’s filters and drain get checked too, since a blockage there can look like a bigger fault than it is.
Most faults show up at this stage, although some electrical faults only appear once the system has run for a while. A short second visit is sometimes needed.
You should still get a clear explanation of the fault before any repair work begins. Additionally, you should get a price you are free to accept or decline. That price depends on the parts needed and how easy the unit is to reach. As a result, a quote tends to follow the visit rather than come before it.
When repair stops being worth it
Repair makes sense while one part is at fault and the rest of the system is sound. It stops making sense once several faults stack up on an old unit. That is because a new compressor near the end of a system’s life rarely pays for itself.
As a guide, replacement starts to win once a repair bill approaches the price of a new system. A failed capacitor or a seized fan motor, however, is usually a cheap, quick fix at any age.
The price of a new system still depends on the property and the unit chosen. A good installer will say so, rather than sell a repair that only buys another year. Gas type matters too, because the UK is phasing down HFC refrigerants by 79% by 2030.
An older system running a gas under that phase-down may face higher recharge costs. Our repair or replace guide weighs age, gas type and running cost together.
Repair coverage across the region
Dedicated pages cover Bristol air conditioning repair, Plymouth air conditioning repair and getting a unit fixed in Bournemouth. The list continues with air conditioning repair in Swindon, repairing a system in Poole and fault repairs in Exeter.
Further coverage reaches fault repairs in Gloucester, Cheltenham air conditioning repair and getting a unit fixed in Bath. Rounding out the list are air conditioning repair in Taunton, repairing a system in Salisbury and our Truro repair page.
Getting a repair quote
We employ no engineers ourselves, and we fit and repair nothing directly. Tell us what the system is doing wrong, how old it is, and whether it is a home or a commercial job. We then check the details before passing them on.
One enquiry puts you in touch with one pre-qualified installer for this job. It is free, with no obligation.
Sometimes a fault turns out to need replacement instead of repair. In that case, you can ask the same installer to price a replacement as well. Our installation coverage page also covers installing a system in Bristol, Exeter air conditioning installation and home cooling installs around Swindon. Send your enquiry through the contact page to get started.