NOT ONLY can your vehicle’s air conditioning (AC or Aircon) keep you cool in summer, in the winter it can help demist your windscreen quicker by scrubbing moisture from the air. This is often in conjunction with the air recirculation setting (this is also very good for quickly stopping smells and dust entering the cabin from outside, particularly when following farm vehicles or similar).
Even if you never use your AC, for resale value the best advice is to turn it on whilst driving for five minutes or so once a fortnight to keep everything working: the fluids flowing, the lubricants doing their job, the compressor clutch and belts operational and the seals plumped up, etc. This should keep it in A1 condition.
The UK is not generally a country where AC is believed needed (although there have been a few summers and days recently when it would have been nice) and the old belief was that it is expensive and turning it on used extra fuel, reducing economy – no longer really true.
Ideally AC systems should be serviced or inspected every two years but if it’s working fine there’s probably less need (a little refrigerant top up perhaps) and using it will help.
If it stops keeping you (as) cool then simply top up the refrigerant; there is more than one type so a sticker under the bonnet or the handbook will tell you what’s right and how much to use. A YouTube video will probably show you how to do it yourself. If that doesn’t work or it stops being as cool quite quickly after the top up was initially effective then there might be a leak. This could be from a seal or there might be a hole from a stone in the radiator/condenser/dryer, these are often behind the grille, sometimes with limited protection from the road. These are rare issues though. NB this is not the main radiator but the condenser radiator.
Other parts include a pressure switch, so no coolant gas means AC probably won’t switch on (even though the light or similar often does), and the dedicated fan for the AC condenser radiator, which is usually near the normal radiator. Two fans, one for the proper radiator and one for AC condenser, often positioned side by side and identical. Bushes on inferior fans have been known to fail.
If systems go wrong, DIY fixes are possible from web research (might just be a relay or fuse) and there are mobile and other specialists to pressure test and look for leaks using UV dyes. There are fewer specialists following legislation and gas changes: R134a is commonly used in older vehicles, while R1234yf is used in newer models.
So, use that AC and keep it working.
