Use it or lose it!
There is little more damaging to an air conditioning system than long periods of inactivity and even worse than that, long periods of inactivity due to loss of refrigerant.
As mentioned on previous pages as the seals around your air con system dry out, an increasing amount of refrigerant can escape. This is bad for the environment and bad for your wallet. you can expect refrigerant losses to be around the 15% per year mark and once the pressure in the system drops below a certain point your air con will no longer work. The problem with refrigerant loss is that the refrigerant is what carries the lubricant around you air con system to the parts that need it (namely the compressor).
LESS REFRIGERANT = LESS OIL FLOW = MORE WEAR
When refrigerant loss reaches a certain level air (containing moisture) will enter the system, if this is left unchecked it will often leave the air con system requiring major overhaul and this is never cheap.
I know we keep banging on about this stuff and reading it back I would be the first to agree that it sounds a bit like scare mongering. But, experience has shown us that there is no such thing as a cheap air con repair. You will save more money servicing your air con, than repairing your air con. Believe us when we say its is the cheaper option.
Another point worth mentioning (here we go again) is that as the refrigerant level drops your air con compressor has to work harder to cool the air - this will have a knock effect with regards to fuel consumption and wear and tear.