If you take good care of your air conditioner, you can expect it to last a fairly long time. No air conditioner lasts forever, though, and eventually, you will need to install a new one. You don’t want to go into summer with an air conditioner that’s on its last legs, lest the system break down in the middle of a record heat wave. So, how can you tell whether or not it’s time for a new air conditioner? The best thing to do is to have a technician examine the system for you and tell you whether or not it’s time for a new one. If you’re looking for some good general guidelines for when to call a technician for that conversation, though, check out the points below.
Is the System Costing a Lot to Use?
Your air conditioner is obviously going to cost more to operate during months where you use it a lot. As an air conditioner wears down, though, it’s going to lose more and more of its efficiency. The declining output capacity of the system will force it to operate for longer periods of time to compensate, which will drive up the cost of using it. So, if your air conditioner is costing more to use than you think it should be, then it’s time to have a technician check it for you.
Is It Breaking Down Often?
It’s not unusual to have an air conditioner develop a problem every once in a while. There’s a difference between needing to repair your air conditioner every few years and needing to do it every few months, though. If your air conditioner is breaking down that frequently, then it’s probably getting pretty close to the end of its life. The wear and tear on various parts of the system is causing the parts inside it to break down in groups. This issue will worsen the longer you use the system, culminating in a complete breakdown of the system. Make sure that you call for a replacement before that happens.
Is It Old?
The average effective lifespan for an air conditioner is right around 10-15 years. Once a system gets older than that, it will very often start to collect a whole range of chronic issues that will make it more expensive to use. The longer the system is in use past that point, the more cost-ineffective it will become. If your air conditioner is older than 15 years, we highly recommend that you have a technician examine it as soon as possible to determine when it will need to be replaced. Better to replace it now than to continue wasting money using it for the next year or two.