Do you wait until your outside air conditioning unit dies, or do you go ahead and replace it knowing it is on its last leg?
Asked by
chyna (
51306
)
July 9th, 2012
My air conditioner broke down again this week, during 105 degree temperatures of course, and my a/c guy told me again the unit is on its last leg. Luckily it was the capacitor and was only a 20.00 item. This unit will be 20 years old next year. Do I go ahead and bite the bullet and get a new one now or do I wait until it has actually died? Reasons for either side will be helpful.
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5 Answers
I would start shopping for a new AC, but I would try to hold out until Autumn when the temps start to fall to put it in if possible. Then you would have the best chance of getting a new AC at a discount.
Like cars, if you can wait until the new models are out and get your new model from last years inventory it is cheaper.
Only problem is if you guess wrong and it goes out early, you could end up sweating or paying a premium to get if fixed the hottest week of the year.
A new one will be much more energy efficient. While the cost to upgrade might be high the savings in the long-run will be worth it.
The newer A/C units will pay for themselves ( compared to a 20 year old unit ) in just a few years with reduced energy costs.
I’m so sorry to hear that.We have insurance on all our household appliances, which covers repair and replacement, so when our outside unit went bad, we expected to have it repaired or replaced. We ran into a problem when the insurance company referred us to a service provider that was not honest.
The provider insisted they would have to upgrade our system, and the insurance disputed the charges. After 21 of the hottest days of the year, and two thousand dollars out of our pocket, the new unit was installed.
We found out later there was no upgrade required in our area, and they did NOT upgrade anything, plus they put in a smaller unit than we paid for. It was a very bad experience.
We recently chose to replace our furnace and the indoor portion of the air conditioner. The insurance company paid for the motor portion, $500, and we paid for the rest. I am very happy with the results.
IF you can afford to replace it proactively, do it. That way, you can plan to be out of the house during the work and not pay emergency fees on top of the usual cost. The new unit will be much more efficient and should save you money in utilities. If you can’t spare the money right now, though… well, let’s just say I’d have to wait a while. :/
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