subject: When Should You Choose Ac Repair Or A New Air Conditioner? [print this page] Is AC repair going to be the wiser option or should you buy a new system? When considering whether you should replace or repair the unit, the age is a very important factor. Was it in place when you bought the house? If so, the approximate age should have been in your disclosure statement. Did you buy the air conditioning unit? Did you buy an extended warranty when purchasing it? If this is the case, it may still be under warranty. A typical warranty is five years, but additional coverage can be added.
Sometimes finding replacements for the parts can be difficult. Then again, some of the older units are easier to repair because they were not built with all the complicated parts that newer air conditioners have. If it is under 10 years old, it is very possible that it would be less expensive to repair it than to purchase a new one. The parts are probably going to be more expensive because new systems have more digital and electronic parts. However, the expense is still less than purchasing a new system.
It is worth it to choose AC repair if your system is still under warranty. You may want to check and see if your warranty specifies repair by a certain company. If so, and you call someone else to fix it, this will void the warranty. You may only have to pay for the labor itself rather than any parts if the AC is still under warranty. This will depend upon how much time is left on your warranty.
Since air conditioning systems generally last up to about 10 to 12 years, if yours is not very old the repair will most likely be the better option. Of course, one of the things to take into consideration is how well maintained it has been. Have you had it serviced regularly? The filters should be changed frequently to keep the fan and other parts from becoming dirty as this can cut down on the life of your air conditioning unit.
Another thing you may want to consider is purchasing home appliance insurance. This will cover your air conditioning system as well as other major appliances in the home and can help immensely if you need AC repair. The cost of the insurance is minimal compared to what you will spend on repairing or replacing major appliances.
When trying to decide on repairing the air conditioning or replacing it, you will have to take all these things into consideration and compare the costs. If the repairs are beginning to add up because something is consistently breaking down, you may have no choice but to buy a new system. Over the long run you will spend more money on repairs than it would cost just to go ahead and have a new system installed.
