To repair or to replace your AC unit can be a very difficult decision. Both can end up costing a lot of money. Luckily, there are many factors and ideas that can help you weigh your options! Some of the things that you may want to consider will seriously influence your decision on what to do! It’s always a great idea to call a local professional to diagnose the problems and get a quote or estimate on the cost to repair or replace it! If you give Advantage Heating & Air Conditioning a call they can come out and give you a Free estimate!
Energy Efficiency
Over the last 10 years we have come a long way with making our lives more energy efficient. One thing that has definitely become more efficient is air conditioners. If your Air conditioner is more than 10 years old then there is a good chance that it is not very energy efficient. This is a good thing to keep in mind when you are deciding whether to repair or replace because it may end up saving you money in the long run if you were to change to a new energy star air conditioner. You can weigh your options by thinking how much the repair will cost vs how much you will save of your monthly bill by switching to energy efficient Air Conditioner. This is just one of things to keep in mind.
Age of the Unit
As we touched on in the last paragraph, age does matter when it comes to energy efficiency and just efficiency in general as far as AC units are concerned. Most Air conditioning units only last about 14 years. So if you have gotten it to that point your are doing good! There are of course many factors to take into account though. If your AC still uses R-22 refrigerant (freon) then you might want to consider replacing it. It is very expensive to refill R-22 refrigerant because it is scarce now. Just because your AC is older doesn’t necessarily mean that you should immediately jump to replace it, make sure to weigh your options and do your research.
How Much Will it Cost?
One huge factor to take into consideration is how much the price to repair the unit is going to be. Luckily, there are a couple of handy dandy rules that can help you decide. One rule of thumb is the $5000 Rule, this is to Take the cost of repair and multiply it by the age of the Air Conditioning unit, if it exceeds 5000 then it is time to consider a new unit(ex. 11 years X $500=$5500). Another good rule good rule is the 50% rule, if the repair cost get close to half the price of your current system then it may be time to replace it. Some professionals advise that if the repairs cost more than $800 you might want to consider a new system. These are just a couple of helpful rules to help you decide on whether you should repair or replace your AC system.
So whatever your choice may be as far as what you want to do with your System it is always important to get a professional diagnoses and an estimate on repairing or replacing. If you are currently wondering what to do you can give us a call at Advantage Heating & Air Conditioning and we can come out and give you a free estimate!
