When Should I Replace My HVAC Equipment?

You should consider age and the frequency of repairs. If your making an AC Repair every year or every other year it sounds like you may have some other issues going on such as the system was never installed properly from the get go or maintenance is not being performed regularly. We come across both scenarios often. We find about 60% of homes out there don’t have enough Return Air , which can starve your system and cause parts to work extra hard and prematurely fail. Same goes with a system not receiving the proper annual maintenance. Also, there is also a lot of steps some install companies skip just to save time and money and it ends up being the customers headache down the road. So the best thing is to make sure the system is properly operating first. (Getting enough air into the system) Then you can know for sure how the system is really performing. Let’s say all of those things are good, what do you do?

We like to use the 5,000 rule. Multiply the age of the equipment by the repair cost, and if that exceeds $5,000, then replace the unit. If less, go ahead and repair it. So if you have a 10 year old unit and a $600 repair that’s $6,000 which is more than $5,000 so we would recommend to replace that unit. We have found that in most cases this works well. There are some other ways we can calculate a repair vs. replace analysis as well but this is one of the easier methods. We also have a Repair vs. Replace report card we offer customers that takes into consideration some other things as well and can give customers a clear direction that is in their best interest. Give us a call if your unsure and we would be happy to help you through the process.