When his car air-conditioner was broken, he would ride with the windows up, to maintain appearances.

The cans allow car air-conditioners to be refilled cheaply, but without repairing the leak, meaning that another refill will be required.

It's been proven many times, with car air-conditioners especially.

In addition, car air-conditioners must be free to bounce and vibrate, so they use hoses instead of pipes, and the hoses leak, too.

In the meantime, what can a consumer do to limit environmental damage from a car air-conditioner?

(A typical car air-conditioner has about three pounds of refrigerant; a supermarket chilling system, on the order of 2,000.)

The cost of repairing a car air-conditioner is already rising, and in a few years repairs will be almost impossible.

In contrast, a car air-conditioner is virtually guaranteed to leak every few years.

Put the car air-conditioner on 'recirculate' to prevent outside air from coming in.

If your car air-conditioner is blowing Caribbean trade winds instead of Arctic cold fronts, beware: tuning up the system may cost more than you expect.