When is the Time Right for Air Conditioner Replacement?

Replacing your home’s air conditioner is probably one of the biggest decisions you will make this summer to ensure your family’s comfort. Whether to choose between an AC repair or an entire air conditioner replacement is a call you may have to face. Fortunately there is a point at which you can know it’s time to stop spending on AC repairs and choose to replace your air conditioner.

Increasing AC Age

Something to keep in mind before getting too far in to the process is the age of the air conditioner. Like a lot of mechanical devices, air conditioners will wear down over time. With a new air conditioner, cutting-edge technology provides increased comfort and much longer reliability, for less money. While it’s not on the same scale, you could compare heating and air conditioning equipment to computers. The technology does have a lifecycle and newer, more advanced upgrades are always being developed.

Increasing AC Repair Costs

With an appliance as intricate as a central air conditioner, there are parts that wear down and break down over time, especially if routine maintenance has not been done. A well-maintained system should work well throughout peak air conditioning season. A good rule of thumb when deciding to get a new air conditioner is that if annual AC repair costs approach $1,200, it maybe a good time to replace. That’s because the average monthly payment of an entirely new air conditioning system is the equivalent of that single repair cost.

Another way to think about this is, if the cost for the AC repair is 1/12 of the cost of a new AC replacement, the benefits of the replacement air conditioner in low monthly payments, energy bill reduction and greater comfort likely compensates for the investment in the AC repair. 

Decreasing Efficiency

Seeing decreases in your energy bill doesn’t take long when it happens month after month. It can be easy to write it off as an abnormality, but be sure to take a closer look at the energy you’re consuming and see if those increases are due to more use, or more likely due to something else like lower efficiency of your home’s air conditioner. The older your AC system gets (and the longer it goes before being maintained), the more inefficient it will become. It may also be an indicator that it’s time for air conditioner replacement.

Noise Pollution

Older air conditioners and ductwork operate much louder than today’s new AC systems. That constant clanking you’ve become used to, or the overall noise level when the air conditioner is running could mean the end is near for your current air conditioner. It’s possible that you don’t realize how much noise you and your family have been living with until you live with the extreme quiet that a newer, more modern air conditioning system can offer.

Of course, these aren’t the only problems that indicate the need for air conditioner replacement, but they are a couple of the more common ones that we see routinely. Fras-Air/General Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning can help by giving you a free assessment of your home’s air conditioning system to help determine whether the time has come for your air conditioner to be replaced, or if it’s best to proceed with an AC repair.  Hillsborough has trusted us for a reason, and that’s because your comfort is always top priority. Give us a call at 908-448-2154 or set up a free appointment today.