A system that sits unused for most of the year
In a place with long winters, air conditioning gets switched off in September and ignored until June, and that is precisely what shortens its life.
The system is sealed by rubber components, and those seals are kept supple by oil circulating with the refrigerant. When the compressor never turns, the oil never moves, and the seals it was supposed to be lubricating dry out and shrink. Refrigerant escapes slowly past them, and the first anybody knows is weak cooling in the following summer.
Which makes the prevention almost comically simple: run the system for a few minutes each month, winter included. That alone does more to keep a system alive than anything done to it in a shop.
On most vehicles the defroster does it for you, since the compressor runs with it. Worth knowing, because a driver who never touches the air conditioning button may be exercising it anyway, and one who never uses the defroster either is not.
What usually goes wrong
The leak described above is the common one. Others: a failed compressor, a condenser blocked at the front of the vehicle, an electrical fault, or a clogged cabin air filter where the problem is airflow rather than cooling.
Why topping it up does not solve it
A system that has lost refrigerant has a leak by definition, and a dried-out seal is a leak. Putting more refrigerant into it treats the consequence and leaves the cause, which is why the same conversation happens the following summer.
The national A/C service page covers what a proper service involves.
Have it checked in spring
A fault found in April is a repair. The same fault found in July is a repair and a wait, because everybody discovers theirs in the same week.
Ask for it at a visit you are making anyway. See scheduled maintenance.
About this store
The Loveland store runs sixteen services, opens at 7:00 AM, and is managed by Joe Servin. Denver and Colorado Springs also offer A/C service.
See the national A/C service page for all 33 locations.