Slow red routes and parked-up cars: Streatham's air con problem
Streatham's main roads are slow by design. The High Road and Streatham Hill are 20mph red routes full of buses and crossings, and the A216 Mitcham Lane from St Leonard's Church queues towards the Figges Marsh signals. For air conditioning, that means long periods at low speed with little airflow through the condenser. A system with its full charge will still cool. One that has lost refrigerant over a few summers will feel weak in exactly these conditions, on the way down past Norwood Grove or sitting outside the Odeon.
Parking plays a part too. As Lambeth extends controlled parking zones, including the Streatham Vale zones running at lunchtime on weekdays, more people drive less or leave the car parked for longer. Systems that are rarely switched on lose refrigerant through seals that dry out, because the oil that keeps them supple only moves when the compressor runs. Cars from the terraced streets around Streatham Village often arrive with a lower charge than their age would suggest.
Whatever the cause, the regas process stays the same. We read the label to confirm R134a or R1234yf, recover the old charge and weigh it, and run a vacuum test to make sure the system is sealed before we refill it by weight with the correct oil. Then we measure the vent temperature. If the system does not hold vacuum, we explain what we found and give you a written quote rather than adding refrigerant that would leak straight out again.
The route to Hackbridge heads south-west down Mitcham Lane and Streatham Road, left at Figges Marsh onto the A217, round Mitcham to the Cricket Green, then Cranmer Road and Carshalton Road south. Allow about 20 minutes. If you would rather not do the drive, collection and delivery can be arranged, and repairs are covered by our 3-month workmanship warranty.