To be aware is to be prepared. In the case of your air conditioner, knowing beforehand that the time is fast approaching when you need a new AC system, is all the more important. You need this information to ensure that your comfort at home remains uninterrupted and also to arrange the necessary finance for purchasing a new unit. Nobody is going to come knocking on your door to relay this information to you. Instead, you have to try and understand the symptoms shown by your AC.
Warning Signs That Indicate You Are Ready For A New AC System
If you are wondering when you may need a new AC system, here are a few signs that you need to look out for. If you see two or more of these symptoms together, its time to buy a new AC.
1. More Than A Decade-Old AC – People who take good care of their air conditioners do not change them frequently. With periodic maintenance, your AC can work as long as 10 to 15 years. So the chances of your AC being a decade or more old is not surprising. However, that is the extent of its useful product life. After the 10 year period, not only would the technology have become obsolete, but your AC too would have started slowing down. If not immediately, the need to buy a new AC would soon arise in the future. You can consult your local HVAC contractor to know approximately how many more years or months of life it has. Based on their inspection of your unit, you can get a fair idea.
2. Needs Frequent Repairs – Some air conditioners need frequent repairs. It could be because you did not invest in its regular maintenance, or probably at some time, the contractor that you hired to repair the AC was not skilled enough. Another reason could be that you had compromised on the quality when you purchased it. There are several reasons for things to go wrong and when they do look for a trained and qualified contractor to look into repairing them. Despite that, if you see that there is no decrease in how often your AC demands repairs, the best course of action is to buy a new one.
3. Getting Replacement Parts Is Challenging – If getting the replacement parts of your AC for the repairs to carry forward is becoming difficult, it means that your air conditioner runs on old technology. Probably at the time of purchasing your current AC, you did not realize that newer models with better technology had already entered the market. As a result, your AC may not be very old, and yet its spares may be becoming more and more difficult to obtain. Carrying out repairs becomes challenging due to the lack of availability of spare parts.
4. Energy Bills Are Too High – You run yous AC same as the others, and yet your power bills are way higher than theirs. The first order of business is to check that the rates of your power company are the same as that of theirs. If the power rates are the same, you have on your hand an AC that is either oversized or undersized, or simply inefficient. In any of these cases, your utility bills are bound to run high. To prevent the same mistake in the future, when buying a new AC, consult your HVAC contractor to know which size AC will fit your home requirements the best.
5. Does Not Cool Your Home Sufficiently – In spite of regular maintenance, duct cleaning, repairs, and troubleshooting your AC is unable to cool your home as you desire, you may want to replace it. However, prior to taking this big step, check your thermostat settings. It is quite possible that the setting you are using is not correct for the season. The temperature settings vary to accommodate for the weather outside and how different you want it to be inside. That is why in summers, you tend to set your AC to cooling while in winters, you set it to heating.
6. Repairs Are Expensive – If the AC demands frequent repairs, each of which is costly, you may want to purchase a new one. There is no point in spending so much money each year in the form of repairs when adding a couple more thousand dollars can get you an AC that is reliable and does not break down frequently. However, if you skimp on the regular maintenance of the AC and hire the cheapest contractors for the repairs, the fault is not that of your air conditioner. If you continue to follow this penny-pinching practice, any new AC that you purchase will also fall into the same money pit category.
7. Uses Freon As Refrigerant – The federal government is phasing out the old AC refrigerant, which is known as R22 or Freon because of its ozone-depleting properties. In the current scenario, only licensed contractors can buy recycled R22 as its production has been stopped. As a result, it is not only expensive but also hard to obtain. Very soon, getting it all together in any form will become impossible. Instead of waiting for that time to come, it’s best to be proactive and wake up to your environmental duty. The modern-day air conditioners use Puron or R410A as the refrigerant. This refrigerant is safe for the environment and much readily available.
Ready For A New AC System
There is no one warning sign that indicates your need for a new AC in the near future. A combination of the signals mentioned above is a better indicator of the same. Nonetheless, never jump to the conclusion that your AC is dying without consulting a licensed contractor. It is just to make sure that you are not making any mistakes on your end and blaming your AC for the incompetence.
Aztil AC is always ready to provide a helping hand. When in doubt, contact us. Our technicians are not only trained but also experienced in handling all your AC related problems. You don’t have to worry anymore because we are here to help you, 24/7. To book an appointment call at +1-888-729-8452.
