In the heat of the summer, nothing beats the ability to simply walk over and turn down the thermostat to cool off your home. While window air conditioning units will cool the space, they just don't do a decent job of doing so evenly. Swamp coolers will cool more evenly, but they struggle on humid days and require constant maintenance to keep them working efficiently.
One major downside of owning a home with central air conditioning is that it's expensive to replace when it decides to fail. And, unfortunately, most homeowners don't know enough about the inner workings of their air conditioners to make the decision to repair a broken unit or replace it with a brand new one.
If your air conditioner has given up the ghost and you are struggling to decide if you should repair or replace it as you wait for the HVAC technician to come and inspect it, then consider the following information:
The Scenarios When an Air Conditioner Repair is Warranted
There are many times when a residential AC repair is warranted. These include:
In addition, you should almost always repair an AC unit that's less than a decade old. In fact, most repairs should still be under the manufacturer's warranty at this age.
The Scenarios When an Air Conditioner Replacement is Warranted
There are a few scenarios where replacing your air conditioner makes the most sense for the long term.
For example, as a general rule, the older your air conditioner is, the more power it uses. For this reason, if yours is well over a decade old and needs an expensive repair, then replacing it will not only fix the current problem but it will also lower your cooling bills and help the environment.
If your current AC uses R-22 refrigerant, then a simple coil failure can be a solid reason to replace the air conditioner because R-22 has been replaced by R-410a refrigerant and adding R-22 is now very expensive and often not available.
Getting a Second Opinion and Quote is a Must!
Lastly and absolutely most importantly, if you are advised to make a major repair or replace your air conditioner, then you should get a second opinion. Even if you like the HVAC repair company you are working with, it's always advisable to get a second opinion and a second quote for the work. This will go a long way towards ensuring your peace of mind about the decision you make to replace or repair your residential air conditioner.
Share14 July 2019
After my sister moved into my house with me, she started complaining about the temperature. I had never really thought about it before, or maybe I was just used to it, but my house was pretty cold. She told me that she didn't think the furnace was working properly, so I started checking things out on my own. Sure enough, my furnace seemed to be having some serious problems. I started looking for a replacement, and I was able to find a great furnace for much less than what I initially thought I would need to spend. I wanted to make this blog for anyone out there who might need to shop for a new HVAC system. Check out these great articles for information you might need.
