Repair or Replace?
To repair or replace that is the question. It is a random Wednesday evening, you just got home from work and ugh, it’s 85 degrees in the house and your air conditioning system is not working.
Let me paint a scenario for you, the unit is 9 years old and you have already had 2 repairs done to the unit in the last 3 years. The investment you have made so far is $935.87. That investment is equal to approximately 1/5 to 1/6 of what the investment would be to swap out to a brand new air distribution system. Now you are faced with another unknown repair scenario, with an unknown cost. I personally think the worst part about this is trying to make a decision when you are hot, sweaty and probably cranky.
Everyone is in a different place in their life and that of course has to be weighed as a factor when deciding repair or replace, sometimes the household budget will not allow for replacement and repair is the only option, I get that. We have a rule of thumb we go by here when trying to decide the best course of action. Let us take the money out of the equation and ask the question where is the line between repair and replace drawn? The answer in my humble opinion is 25%. If the repair cost is going to exceed 25% of the replacement cost you should really think about replacement if you are in a position to do so.
Face it, outside of the roof of your home, the air conditioning is one of the most costly systems you will purchase and the choices can be overwhelming when shopping for comfort control. A few things to take into consideration when shopping for a new ac system are; how long you plan to stay in the home, are there comfort issues in the home, have your utility bills skyrocketed, anyone have allergies or respiratory issues, do you experience a lot of dust, and many other things. A true air conditioning professional is going to spend a couple hours going through the whole house, looking at the entire air distribution system, and help guide you down the path of a system that is going to be the best for you, your family and your home.
Again to repair or replace is a hard question to answer, and many factors are going to weigh on which direction you should go, just make sure when your AC system is down don’t (as my grandmother used to say) cut your own nose to spite your face. I understand you’re hot, sweaty, and most likely angry that the air conditioning is out, however I highly recommend you take a step back, along with a deep breath and make the hard choice of repair or replace based on everything we have reviewed today.
Art Plumbing, Air Conditioning & Electric is here to help when it comes to the difficult things in life – call us today at 1-800-475-1504 or visit www.artplumbingandac.com to schedule an air distribution system evaluation today.
House Whisperer out!
