In our last post, we talked about the importance of having regular maintenance for your air conditioning system during the spring. But sometimes you don’t need to have your current AC given a tune-up. What you really need is to replace it entirely.
The decision to replace an air conditioner is a large one, and the “repair vs. replace” debate is one many homeowners have to deal with at some point. Our technicians are glad to help you with a new air conditioning installation in Greenville, SC, but we’d also like to help you decide if it’s necessary yet or not. You want to make the choice that’s best for your budget and comfort.
We strongly recommend you work with our team to make the choice. You can use the info in this post to start thinking about whether you should replace your AC before summer, but please don’t make the decision on your own.
AC system age
A good place to start is to consider how old the AC is. The average service life expectancy of central air conditioners is 10-15 years. Maintenance will help push an AC to the upper maximum. Age isn’t an absolute when it comes to knowing when to retire a cooling system, but it’s one of the better guides. We don’t advise keeping an air conditioner beyond 15 years, even if it appears to be working adequately.
Operating costs
The effects of labor and time on an air conditioner will cause it to decline and lose energy efficiency. Maintenance reduces this, keeping an AC at 95% of its original efficiency until the end of its service life. It’s that end of service life we’re concerned about, however. If you’ve noticed over the last year that you paid much more to cool your house than before, it may mean the air conditioner is coming to the end of the line.
Repair frequency and costs
An air conditioner should only need to have a few repairs over its service life. Having to repair an AC every year is too often, and twice a year is definitely too often. Watch for the costs of any repair you plan to have: any quoted repair price that’s more than half the cost of a new AC is too expensive to justify.
Uneven cooling
One major warning of an air conditioner that is rapidly declining is when it starts cooling the house unevenly. If you’re finding parts of the house that are warmer than usual, even if other places are fine, it may be a sign that the AC’s cooling capacity is plunging. Soon you may not have any cooling.
AC can’t keep up
If you spent the last summer having to push the thermostat lower and lower to attempt to stay cool enough, the air conditioner is losing its power to provide comfort. Trying to get around this by setting the thermostat lower is only delaying a major breakdown—and it will also cause the air conditioner to waste money. Call our technicians in to examine the system and see if it’s ready to replace.
Rely on Carolina Climate Control for your AC replacement, repair, and maintenance needs. The Moose Is Loose in Your Neighborhood!