Time for a New AC? How to Tell

Air conditioners are great ways to keep your home cool for many years, but they aren’t designed to last forever. Sooner or later, you’ll need to replace your unit with a reliable, energy-efficient model. Here’s how to tell when it’s time to upgrade.

Age and Wear

First of all, bear in mind that air conditioners have a finite lifespan. Most central AC units are designed to last eight to 10 years. If you’ve had yours for nearly a decade, it may be time to upgrade just because your current system has run its course.

Of course, sheer age doesn’t tell the whole story; air conditioners also may need to be replaced because they’ve endured too much wear and tear. If your home is poorly insulated or you keep the temperature very cool, you might have to replace your air conditioner more frequently. Likewise, if your AC unit has had multiple repairs in recent years, it may be time to just start fresh with a new unit.

AC Repairs vs. Replacement

If you have a broken AC unit, now might be the perfect time to upgrade. An HVAC contractor can help you make that decision by doing a payback analysis, which looks at the cost of upgrading to a new air conditioner and the potential energy savings that could come with buying a more efficient system. Faced with a choice between a $300 repair and a $600 replacement, you might find that the energy savings could offset that $300 difference in just a few summers.

Remember that there are also various government tax incentives and utility rebates available for air conditioning replacement. Upgrading from an aging, less efficient system to a new, ultra-efficient central air conditioner can already save you plenty in the long term, and those short-term financial benefits can make the decision to upgrade even easier.

A final note on replacement: If you have an issue with your indoor unit, it’s best to replace the outdoor unit as well and vice versa. That’s because the two units are designed to work as a matched system; we can get you non-matched units if that’s what you really want, but efficiency and cooling power will suffer.

Making the decision to replace your air conditioner isn’t easy, but consulting a highly qualified HVAC contractor will help. We at Tempco Heating and Air Conditioning are proud to be the HVAC contractor of choice for many Naperville IL residents, and we’ll work with you to help make the best decision for your home.