Air conditioning outdoor unit on wall brackets above a brick wall, with its electrical isolator and cabling

Air conditioning repair
across London

Not cooling, leaking water, tripping the breaker or flashing an error code. We diagnose it properly with gauges rather than guessing, tell you what it costs to fix, and tell you honestly when a repair is not worth it.

  • Diagnostic visit 89 pounds plus VAT, waived if we do the repair
  • Any make, including systems we did not install
  • Next working day across north London where the diary allows

Accredited, and fitting the brands you know

NICEIC approved contractorGas Safe RegisterMCS certifiedRECC, Renewable Energy Consumer CodeTrustMark, Government Endorsed QualityVaillantClivetSamsungDaikinMitsubishi ElectricBosch

Air conditioning we have fitted

Our own jobs, photographed on site. Real rooms, real outdoor positions, nothing from a catalogue.

All our installations
  • £89Diagnosis, plus VAT
  • WaivedIf you go ahead with the repair
  • 4 of 5Common faults fixed on the first visit
  • Any makeAny age, any installer

Fixed in three steps

  1. 1

    Tell us the symptom

    What it is doing, and any error code on the display.

  2. 2

    Diagnosis on site

    £89 plus VAT, and it comes off the repair if you go ahead.

  3. 3

    Fixed, or an honest no

    Most faults are fixed on the day. If a repair is not worth it, we say so.

What we fix

  • Not coolingUsually a leak and a low charge, found and recharged.
  • Water dripping insideA blocked drain or pump, cleared and flushed.
  • Dead, or trippingCapacitors, contactors, cables and isolators.
  • Noise and rattlesFan bearings, brackets and anti-vibration mounts.
  • Error codesRead in a minute on site, on any make.
  • SmellsA deep clean of the coil and the drain.
A wall-mounted indoor air conditioning unit

Your estimate

£120to£700

Plus VAT, and the 89 pound diagnosis comes off if we do the work.

What the repair is likely to cost

Diagnosis is 89 pounds plus VAT and it is waived entirely if you go ahead with the repair. What it costs after that depends on what it turns out to be.

What is it likely to be?

Last step: where do we send your written price?

Every figure on this site is an estimate built from the quotations we issued in 2026 and our own installation experience. It is not a quotation. The price you are given after the free survey is the price you pay.

The full guide: symptoms, likely causes and what they cost

Most air conditioning faults are one of five things, and four of them are fixable on the first visit.

The diagnostic visit is 89 pounds plus VAT and it is waived if you go ahead with the repair the same day. We will not quote a repair over the phone from a symptom, because that is how people get sold a compressor they did not need.

Work out what is wrong before you call

Symptom, likely cause and what it usually costs
What it is doingMost likely causeTypical cost
Running but not coolingLow refrigerant charge from a leak£400 to £700 with recharge
Nothing happens at allCapacitor, contactor or the isolator switched off£120 to £280
Water dripping insideBlocked condensate drain or pump£120 to £220
Ice on the pipeworkLow airflow or low charge£95 to £600 depending on cause
Trips the breakerCompressor winding or a damaged cable£180 to £1,600
Loud rattle or grindingFan bearing or a loose bracket£140 to £340
Smells when it startsBiological growth on the coil£160 deep clean
Error code on the displayAnything. The code narrows it in one minuteDiagnosis first

Prices include labour and VAT is extra. If the fault turns out to be something that should still be under manufacturer warranty, we will tell you and help you claim rather than charging you for it.

Two things to check yourself first, because they are free

  1. The filters. Open the front of the indoor unit and slide them out. If they are grey, wash them in warm water, dry them fully and put them back. A blocked filter is the single most common reason a system stops cooling, and it costs nothing to rule out.
  2. The isolator. There is a switch near the outdoor unit. Gardeners, decorators and window cleaners turn it off and never mention it. Check it is on before you book anyone.

When we will tell you not to repair it

There are three situations where spending money on the old system is the wrong call, and we would rather say so than take the work:

  • A failed compressor on a system over ten years old. The repair is 900 to 1,600 pounds on a machine near the end of its life, and a new system is 2,400 to 3,200 pounds with a fresh warranty and lower running costs.
  • An R22 system. R22 has been banned for servicing since 2015. It cannot legally be topped up, so any refrigerant fault on an R22 system means replacement.
  • Repeated leaks on the same joint set. If the original flares were made badly, fixing one leak just moves the problem to the next joint.

The R22 question

If your system was installed before about 2004 it may contain R22, which has been illegal to use for servicing since January 2015 under the ozone-depleting substances rules. A system with R22 in it can keep running until it develops a refrigerant fault, and at that point it cannot be repaired legally. We identify it on the first visit from the nameplate rather than letting you find out later.

Repair questions

Why is my air conditioning not cooling?

The four common causes, in the order we find them: a blocked filter starving the coil of airflow, a low refrigerant charge from a slow leak, a failed capacitor stopping the compressor or fan from starting, and a control or sensor fault that has put the unit into a protective mode.

A blocked filter you can fix yourself in five minutes. The other three need gauges. If the outdoor fan is spinning but the room is not getting cold, it is usually charge or compressor.

How much does an air conditioning repair cost?

The diagnostic visit is 89 pounds plus VAT in London, and it is waived if you go ahead with the repair on the same visit. Common repairs then run from about 120 pounds for a capacitor to 400 to 700 pounds for a leak repair with a full recharge.

A failed compressor is normally 900 to 1,600 pounds fitted, and at that point on a system over ten years old we will tell you honestly whether replacing it makes more sense.

Why is water dripping from my indoor unit?

Nearly always a blocked condensate drain. The unit produces a couple of litres of water on a humid day, the drain silts up, the tray overflows and it comes out of the front of the case and down your wall.

Less commonly it is a coil frozen solid from low airflow or low charge, which then melts faster than the tray can drain. Turn it off, let it thaw and call us rather than running it.

Do you repair systems you did not install?

Yes, any make. A large part of our repair work is on systems fitted by companies that are no longer trading, or that fitted them badly enough that the customer will not have them back.

We will tell you in writing what is wrong, what it costs to put right, and whether it is worth doing on that system.

How fast can you get here?

Usually next working day in north London, and same day in Enfield, Barnet and Haringey where the diary allows. In the middle of a July heatwave the whole trade is stretched and we will tell you honestly what day we can actually attend rather than promising a slot we cannot keep.

Tell us the symptom and we will tell you the likely cause

Send a photo of the error code or the outdoor unit nameplate on WhatsApp. It costs nothing and it usually narrows the fault before anyone travels.

Monday to Friday 9am to 7pm, Saturday 10am to 3pm, Sunday closed

What is it doing?

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