You pressed the On button of your air conditioner. But the air conditioner isn’t cooling. You call an AC repair Frisco professional to check on the AC. Before calling an AC repair technician, ask yourself whether your AC needs a replacement or repair.

4 Things to Look at While Considering AC Repair or Replacement

Air Conditioner’s Age

If you are still deciding whether to do an air conditioner repair or replacement, first, you will have to consider the age of the cooling system. Usually, the life expectancy of an AC system is about 12-15 years. After this, the air conditioning unit starts to function poorly. No matter how well-maintained the AC is, you won’t get the desired cooling from it. So, if your cooling unit is more than 10 years old and needs AC repair, you should consider replacing it. However, if the AC is relatively new, you should do the repair.

When you replace your older cooling unit with a new one, not only do you get superior performance, but also you get the benefits of its modern features. For example, most newer ACs are energy-star-rated. It means newer air conditioning units will consume less energy and provide more cooling. Besides, some of the newer ACs can adjust the temperature accordingly.

You may think that replacing an air conditioning unit requires a lot of money. Yes, it does. But if you have an older air conditioner and you want superior performance, you will have to replace the older unit with a new one. Besides, when you install a new HVAC system in your house, it increases the property value.

AC Efficiency

After the age of the air conditioner, you will have to consider its efficiency. If you have an older cooling unit, it is likely that it has a lower efficiency. To measure efficiency, the SEER rating is used. Usually, older HVAC systems have a SEER rating of less than 12. On the other hand, newer AC is highly energy-efficient compared to the older ones, and to measure the efficiency, SEER2 rating is used.

If 12-15 years ago, the SEER rating of your cooling system was 12, it will be less than 8 now or even lower. It means that it consumes more energy compared to the output. As a result, when you use such an outdated and energy-hungry cooling unit, your electricity cost will go higher.

On the flip side, modern ACs have higher SEER2 ratings. Besides, newer air conditioners are energy-star-rated.

According to the new regulation, all air conditioning units in Frisco must have a SEER2 rating of 14.3 or above, equivalent to 15 or more on the SEER scale. But with older AC units, it is quite impossible to meet this requirement.

So, if your AC has lower energy efficiency and needs repairs, you should consider replacing it with an energy-star-rated cooling unit.

AC Refrigerant Type

Air conditioner refrigerant absorbs the heat from your space and keeps your space cool. However, this refrigerant can harm the environment as well. For example, an older air conditioner uses R22. Refrigerants like R22 harm the ozone layer and increase atmospheric temperature. That is why in 2020, the EPA banned R22, and encouraged the use of R410A. R410A is environmentally friendly and doesn’t harm the ozone layer.

If your AC unit is over 10-12 years old, it is likely using R22. But as R22 is illegal in the US, you can’t purchase it from the open market. Instead, you will have to purchase it from the black market and pay higher price. Besides, as it is illegal to use the air conditioner, it will be considered a criminal offense.

On the flip side, if your AC uses R410A, you won’t have to worry about all these. If you need to refill the AC refrigerant, call the HVAC technician, and they will refill it.

So if your cooling unit uses the R22 refrigerant and needs repairs, you should replace the cooling unit with a new one. But if the AC uses R410A and needs repairs, you can go ahead and repair the air conditioning unit.

AC Repair Cost

Finally, you will have to consider the cost of the AC repair. If your AC needs minor repairs, such as cleaning the drain line or replacing the air filter, it will cost you less. But if you need repairs such as AC compressor repair, condenser fan motor repair, refrigerant refilling, etc., on average, you will have to spend around $1000. But before spending the money, you will have to ask whether the cost is worth the gains.

If the AC repair cost is half of the price of a new AC unit, it is not financially feasible to repair the cooling system, especially when the air conditioner is old. Because as I said above, as time goes by, the air conditioning unit starts to function poorly, and no matter how often you do the repair work, after a certain time, you won’t see any change in its performance.

Apart from the age, you will have to consider the repair frequency as well. If you are visiting the AC repair shop often, it indicates that there are far more serious issues in the cooling unit. In this scenario, it is advisable to replace the entire cooling unit than repair it.

Conclusion

If you have older AC that uses the R22 refrigerant and needs frequent repairs, you should consider replacing the unit. Otherwise, you should go for the AC repair. For air conditioning repair, Frisco, TX has the best of the best repair technicians who will assist you in any HVAC problem.