Air conditioners can last for many years, especially if you take good care of them with regular maintenance and judicious use. Sooner or later every appliance needs replacing, however, and that holds true for your air conditioner as well. If you’re going to replace it, now is the time, rather than risking a catastrophic breakdown in the middle of summer. But how can you tell if your system is ready to be replaced? Every AC is different of course, and only you can make the final call when it comes to its operating capacity. Generally speaking of course, there are three reliable signs that your system is ready to be replaced with a new one. If yours meets any two of them, you should think about having it put out to pasture before the temperatures get too warm.
1. The Warranty Has Expired
All air conditioners come with a warranty, covering the cost of parts in the event there’s a breakdown or problem. So long as the warranty is in effect, it’s usually a good idea to keep the air conditioner and deal with any trouble with repairs rather than replacement. Indeed, if you take careful care of the system with regular maintenance, it can last for a quite a while after the warranty expires. But if your warranty has expired and the air conditioner experiences either of the other two conditions, that’s usually a good sign that you need a new system.
2. Repairs are Getting Expensive
A repair call is usually the catalyst to trigger the purchase of a new air conditioner. Generally speaking, if you have to schedule more than two repair jobs in a single 12-month period, the system is in serious trouble and you should think about replacing it rather than pouring more money into it. Alternately, it may only be one repair job, but the cost is high enough to merit spending the money on a new air conditioner instead of trying to prop up the old one.
3. Monthly Costs Are Too High
As air conditioners get older, wear and tear starts to have an effect, Individual components don’t function quite as well as they used to, which translates to more wasted energy and higher monthly bills. Those bills will likely continue to rise until the very cost of running the air conditioner becomes prohibitively expensive. New air conditioners are usually much more efficient than older ones, and you may find yourself willing to invest in a new system just to give your monthly budget a break.
Again, if these conditions are in place in your system and you think a new one is merited, now is the time. Doing so will allow you to enjoy the benefits of a new system when the first heat wave hits this summer, and affords you a measure of protection so you don’t have to worry about an air conditioning breakdown in the middle of a heat wave.
For air conditioning replacement services in Wilsonville, OR, call the pros at The Clean Air Act today!