What it is
Refrigerant is not consumed. A system that is low has a leak, full stop. Which makes the most important sentence in this entire database: a recharge without a leak search is a subscription, not a repair.
What you would notice
- Cooling that gets steadily worse over weeks
- Ice on the copper lines near the outdoor unit
- A hissing or bubbling sound
- You were recharged last summer and you are here again
Can you do this yourself?
Not legal for you to do
EPA Section 608 makes it illegal for anyone without certification to purchase refrigerant in any container — the only consumer exception is small automotive R-134a cans, which are not your house. This is not a caution, it is federal law, and violations carry penalties in the tens of thousands of dollars per day.
What to say when you call
Red flags
- A recharge with no leak search offered — the single most common way homeowners overpay in this trade
- Per-pound pricing quoted without saying how many pounds
- Refrigerant added to a system that was actually low on airflow
The call-out alone runs $100–$250 before any work, plus $40–80/hr on top, evenings and weekends. A whole new system is $3,800–$7,500 — compare every quote to that.
Where these numbers come from
- EPA Section 608 refrigerant sales restriction, epa.gov
- HomeGuide, R-410A refrigerant cost — $50–100/lb installed; wholesale $4–8/lb
Did it turn out to be this?
Nobody has ever published how often an AC call turns out to be something cheap — the best figure available anywhere is one company's marketing page. So we are building it. No account, no email, and your ZIP is cut to three digits before it is sent.
← Every AC repair, with both numbers
Get a plan for your exact situation
The free FixAC First-Aid wizard turns your symptom, system age, and ZIP into safe step-by-step checks — plus a briefing on what a fair repair should cost.