When to Repair vs. Replace Your AC Unit

Few home decisions are as frustrating as facing a major AC repair and wondering whether it is worth fixing an aging system at all. A simple framework can help: the $5,000 rule. Multiply the age of your system by the estimated repair cost. If the result is over $5,000, replacement usually makes more sense.

Age matters on its own, too. Most residential systems last 12 to 15 years. If yours is past the decade mark and needs a significant repair, you are likely pouring money into a unit that will fail again soon.

Watch for warning signs: rising energy bills, uneven cooling between rooms, frequent repairs, and the use of R-22 refrigerant, which is being phased out and is now very expensive. Any of these point toward replacement.

That said, a newer system with an isolated problem — a failed capacitor or a bad contactor — is almost always worth repairing. The right answer depends on your specific unit, and an honest technician will tell you when a repair is the smarter spend. That honesty is something we pride ourselves on.