Repair or replace? How to actually decide
Written to be useful even if you never call us. If it saves you a replacement you did not need, it did its job.
The three-step version
How old is it?
On the Gulf Coast, plan on 10–15 years, and 8–12 within a couple of miles of salt water. Under 8 years: repair it, almost without exception. Over 15: replace it, unless the repair is genuinely trivial. In between is where judgement comes in.
Find the age on the data plate on the outdoor unit — the manufacture date is usually encoded in the serial number, and we can read it off for you over the phone.
Apply the $5,000 rule
Multiply the age of the system by the cost of the repair. If the answer is over 5,000, replacement is usually the better financial call.
A $400 repair on a 6-year-old system is 2,400 — fix it. A $1,800 coil on a 12-year-old system is 21,600 — that money is better spent on the replacement. It is a rule of thumb, not a law, but it is a good one.
What refrigerant does it use?
If your system runs R-22, it was made before 2010 and that refrigerant is no longer produced. Reclaimed R-22 now runs several hundred dollars for a recharge when it can be sourced at all. A significant leak in an R-22 system is effectively the end of it, and no amount of good repair work changes that.
Signs it is time, and signs it is not
Lean toward replacing
- Compressor failure on a system past 10 years
- Evaporator coil leak on a system past 10 years
- Uses R-22 and has a leak
- Two or more repairs in the last 12 months
- Power bill climbing year over year with no change in usage
- Rooms that have never cooled evenly since it was installed
Lean toward repairing
- Capacitor, contactor, or fan motor at any age — these are wear items, not death sentences
- Clogged drain or a failed float switch
- Thermostat problems
- First real failure on a system under 10 years
- The unit is under 8 years old and has had regular maintenance
- The problem is duct or airflow related — a new condenser will not fix that
Two things nobody tells you
A failing system is not an emergency purchase. If yours died in July and someone is pressing you to sign today, that pressure is for their benefit, not yours. Window units are cheap. Take the two days, get the second quote.
Replacing the outdoor unit alone is usually a false economy. Mismatched indoor and outdoor units run at reduced efficiency, and most manufacturers will not honour the warranty on a mismatched pair. If someone quotes you a condenser-only swap on a 12-year-old air handler, ask them to put the warranty position in writing.
Want a second opinion?
If you have a quote from somebody else and it does not sit right, call us and read it to us over the phone. We will tell you whether it looks reasonable. There is no charge for that and we do not need to come out to do it.
Questions we get asked a lot
How long should an AC last in Florida?
Ten to fifteen years inland, eight to twelve near the coast. Salt air and the sheer number of runtime hours are what shorten it against the national average of 15–20.
Can I just replace the outside unit?
Technically yes, practically rarely a good idea. Mismatched systems lose efficiency and most manufacturers void the warranty on the new unit. It also puts a brand-new condenser in front of an air handler that may be next to fail.
What is the $5,000 rule?
Multiply the system age by the repair cost. Over 5,000 and replacement is generally the better financial decision. A $400 repair on a 6-year-old unit is 2,400 — repair. An $1,800 repair on a 12-year-old unit is 21,600 — replace.
My system uses R-22. What does that mean?
R-22 production ended in 2020. Only reclaimed supply remains, and it is expensive and getting scarcer. Small repairs are still fine, but any significant refrigerant leak effectively ends the economic life of an R-22 system.