AC Refrigerant Leak Repair in Greenacres and Palm Beach County
- 5.0 from 42 Google reviews
- Licensed and insured, CAC1821097
- Family-owned since 2016
Refrigerant leak repair in Greenacres starts with one fact: an air conditioner does not consume refrigerant. If the charge is low, it leaked, and it will leak again. Next Level Air Conditioning finds and repairs refrigerant leaks across Palm Beach County from our office in Greenacres.
★★★★★
“Next level air conditioning sent a technician named Omar he was extremely helpful and honest. He was efficient and finished the job with care fixing what previous technicians I’ve hired had failed to do.”
Signs of a refrigerant leak
- Air from the vents that is cool but never cold
- The system runs constantly and never satisfies the thermostat
- Ice on the refrigerant line or the indoor coil
- A hissing or bubbling sound near the lines or the air handler
- A power bill climbing while the house gets less comfortable
- Cooling that got worse gradually over a season rather than failing all at once
That last one matters. A leak usually announces itself as slow decline, not as a breakdown, which is why plenty of homeowners live with one for a year or more and blame the weather.
The honest part about topping off
Adding refrigerant to a leaking system makes the house cold again for a while. It does not fix anything. The refrigerant that went in goes out the same hole, and you pay for it twice.
A top-off is sometimes reasonable, like a small leak on a system you are replacing in a few months, and we will tell you when it is. What we will not do is sell you a recharge every season. If a system needs refrigerant more than once, the conversation is about the leak or replacement, not another can.
Finding the leak
Leaks hide. The common places are the evaporator coil, the line set where it passes through a wall or a slab, the service valves, and brazed joints that were done without nitrogen flowing through the line. Finding the exact one takes electronic detection, and often a nitrogen pressure test or dye, because a leak small enough to drain a system over a season is small enough to be invisible.
This is also where install quality shows up years later. Brazing copper without nitrogen flowing through it leaves scale inside the lines, which travels and causes problems long after the truck has left. We flow nitrogen while brazing on every job for exactly this reason.
Repair or replace the component
Some leaks are a joint, a valve, or a section of line set, and those are straightforward repairs. A leaking evaporator coil is a bigger decision, because the coil is one of the most expensive parts in the system. On a newer unit, replacing the coil usually makes sense. On an older one, the cost gets close enough to a system replacement that it is worth seeing both numbers side by side before deciding.
If the system still uses R-22, that decision is usually made for you. R-22 has been out of production since 2020 and what is left is reclaimed and expensive. Putting significant money into an R-22 system is rarely the right call.
What affects refrigerant leak repair cost
Cost depends on where the leak is, how much refrigerant the system takes, and which refrigerant it uses. R-22 is the expensive case.
You get the price before the work starts, not after.
A2L refrigerants and one South Florida quirk
New systems ship with A2L refrigerants, which run at pressures close to what 410A did, slightly lower. They also come with refrigerant leak sensors built in.
Here is the thing almost nobody tells homeowners: fumigation chemicals can set those sensors off. If your house gets tented for termites, the sensor can read the chemical and trip the system into a fault when there is no leak at all. If your AC starts throwing a leak fault right after a tenting, tell whoever you call, because the fix is not a refrigerant repair.
Why Next Level Air Conditioning
Family-owned since 2016 and based in Greenacres, so you are dealing with the same small company on every visit. Florida Certified Air Conditioning Contractor, license CAC1821097, licensed and insured. 5-star rated on Google. Nominated for the Hidden Gem Award at the 2026 HVAC Tactical Awards, and featured on HVAC Tactical's In the Trenches series.
Service areas
Greenacres, Lake Worth Beach, Lake Worth, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, The Acreage, Loxahatchee, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter. We also serve Broward County, including Weston, Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, Fort Lauderdale, Cooper City, Tamarac, Southwest Ranches.
Frequently asked questions
Does an air conditioner use up refrigerant over time?
No. It is a sealed system. If the charge is low, there is a leak, and it will keep leaking until somebody finds it.
Can you just add refrigerant instead of finding the leak?
We can, and sometimes it is the sensible choice, such as a small leak on a system you are already replacing. But it is not a repair. The refrigerant leaves the same way it did last time, and you pay for it again. If a system needs refrigerant more than once, the real conversation is the leak or replacement.
Why is refrigerant so expensive?
Partly the refrigerant itself, especially R-22, which has not been produced since 2020 and is only available reclaimed. Partly the cost of keeping it stocked on a truck so the job can be finished the day we are there.
My AC is freezing up. Is that always a leak?
No. A dirty filter, a blocked return, or a failing blower can freeze a coil too, and those are cheaper problems. A low charge is one common cause among several, which is why the diagnosis matters before anyone adds anything.
My system threw a refrigerant leak fault right after my house was tented. Is it really leaking?
Possibly not. Fumigation chemicals can affect the refrigerant leak sensors on newer A2L systems and trip a fault with no actual leak present. Mention the tenting when you call, because it changes what we look at first.
Should I repair the leak or replace the system?
It depends on where the leak is and how old the system is. A joint or a valve is a straightforward repair. A leaking evaporator coil on an older system often costs enough that replacement deserves a look. If the system is on R-22, replacement is usually the better answer.
Is a refrigerant leak dangerous?
The common refrigerants are not acutely toxic in the quantities a home system holds, but a leak is not something to live with. It makes the system work harder, it can damage the compressor, and the newer A2L refrigerants are mildly flammable, which is exactly why those systems ship with sensors.
Do you serve my city?
We are based in Greenacres and serve all of Palm Beach County plus Broward County.
Low refrigerant usually means a leak
Related services
Work we have actually done
Every photo here is a Next Level job, shot on site. No stock, no catalog renders.
Reviews
What our customers across Palm Beach and Broward say
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Flexible financing options available for new AC installations and system upgrades.
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Prefer to talk? Call (561) 839-7199. Or call our secondary line, (954) 687-7199. Email info@nextlevelairconditioning.com.
Open 24 hours, 7 days. Regular hours Mon to Fri 8 AM to 6 PM, Sat 8 AM to 12 PM. Outside those hours it is emergency service at an after-hours rate, and we tell you that rate before we dispatch.