HVAC Guide
Should I repair or replace my HVAC system?
By All Purpose Anytime Services LLC
Repair a system that is under about ten years old and has failed once. Start pricing a replacement when the system is past fifteen, when the repair involves the compressor or the coil, or when it has needed work in each of the last few seasons. A system that has broken three times will break a fourth.
The parts that change the answer
Capacitors, contactors, thermostats, flame sensors, ignitors and blower motors are ordinary repairs. They are not a reason to replace a working system whatever its age.
Compressors, evaporator coils and heat exchangers are different. Those are the expensive components, and when one fails on an older system the repair starts to approach a meaningful share of the cost of a new one. That is the point where replacing becomes the better spend rather than the bigger one.
Refrigerant matters on older air conditioning
Systems built before roughly 2010 usually run on R-22, which has been phased out of production. It is still available reclaimed, and it is expensive.
A leaking R-22 system is the clearest replace case there is, because you are paying a premium to refill a system that is going to leak again.
Things that look like a failing system and are not
Upstairs not cooling while downstairs is fine is usually a duct problem, not a dying condenser. Long undersized runs to the second floor, leaking joints in an unconditioned attic, and an attic that is not vented enough all starve the upstairs regardless of how good the equipment is.
A furnace blowing cold air is often the fan switch left on rather than auto, so it runs between heating cycles and pushes room temperature air. A clogged filter that trips the high limit does the same thing.
Getting a proper diagnosis first is the difference between a small repair and being sold a system.
Mechanical work opens ceilings
Replacing equipment, running new duct or moving a return usually means opening a ceiling or a wall. A lot of homeowners find the mechanical work goes fine and then they are left holding an open ceiling and a separate search for someone to close it.
Our parent company, All Purpose Anytime Services, patches, finishes and texture matches what the mechanical work opened, so the job stays with one company.
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Tell us what the system is doing and we will tell you what it needs.