In Arizona, it’s important to have a functional air conditioner to maintain your comfort throughout the long summer. At this time of year, you might be thinking more about your heating system, or just reveling in the beautiful autumn weather. But if your air conditioner has been having a rough time this year, you should make a plan now to ensure that you’ll be able to cool your home when the hot weather hits again.
Should your plan be repairing your air conditioner, or investing in a brand-new one? Here are some points you should consider as you make that decision.
How Old Is Your Air Conditioner?
With annual maintenance, an air conditioner should last ten to fifteen years. Unfortunately, if you haven’t been diligent about maintenance, it may only function for half as long. This may give you some idea of how much more time you have with your air conditioner.
However, there is another thing to consider. An air conditioner over twelve years old is likely to have been manufactured with the refrigerant called R-22 or Freon. This is no longer being manufactured, so if you encounter a refrigerant leak, it won’t be repairable. So even if you’ve had it regularly maintained, you should not rely on it lasting much longer. Newer air conditioners use R-410A or Puron.
An air conditioner can survive longer than fifteen years without catastrophic failure, but it won’t be functioning efficiently. This can mean you struggle to keep your home at your desired temperature, and it definitely means you’ll be paying more for your energy bill.
How Often Does It Require Repair?
No air conditioner functions perfectly for its entire lifetime without any repair. You should not be concerned if you have needed to have work done on your air conditioner from time to time. However, if it requires service multiple times per year, those costs add up, and it also indicates that it’s unlikely to continue to operate efficiently for many more years.
Does It Need a Major Repair?
If your air conditioner is relatively new, the cost of a significant repair should not weigh heavily in your decision to keep the air conditioner. As it gets older, consider that the major repair might not be worth investing in. But how can you tell? While there’s no precise way to determine for sure whether repair will be worth it, there are a couple of methods you can use to make a calculation. First, you’ll need to determine the cost of replacing the air conditioner with a brand-new one.
Method one is simple: if the repair would cost at least half the cost of a replacement, it is likely to be a poor financial decision in the long term.
Method two is more nuanced: take the age of the air conditioner in years, and multiply that number by the estimate of the repair cost. If that number exceeds $5,000, you should replace the air conditioner. For example, if you have a two-year-old air conditioner that requires a $1,000 repair, it’s worth investing in AC repair in Tucson. An eleven-year-old air conditioner that requires a $500 repair is not worth repairing.
Whether you need AC repair or a new air conditioner, contact Picture Rocks Cooling, Heating & Plumbing today to schedule an appointment with our professionals.