Home Maintenance and Repair

When is it time to change out your current Heating and Air Conditioning unit?

I recently ran into an old friend of mine in my favorite hardware warehouse. He told me a story he thought I would find humorous. It seems his Heating and Air Conditioning unit had gotten to be about 24 years old and he knew he was on borrowed time. He had gotten an estimate from a Heating and Air Conditioning company do replace the Heating and Air Conditioning equipment and he was trying to decide if he should spend the money. A week latter  he was outside working in the yard when he heard a loud bang come from inside the AIr Conditioning unit. Fearing the worst he took a look inside. He was surprised to see that one of the fan blades required to keep the compressor cool had just about sheared off. He, being the resourceful guy that he is, got a piece of metal and some screws and reconnected the two parts of the fan blade and got his unit to limp along for another week while he waited for the company to come and install his new equipment.    

I have seen Heating and Air Conditioning equipment 30 years old that on surface ran like a top. I would still replace it if the customer had the means to do it. You must understand a unit that old is very inefficient by today's standards. The difference in technology of 30 years ago and today is light-years apart there is absolutely no doubt that a homeowner is going to save money on their utility bills when they replace the 30 year old equipment. So 30 year old equipment is to old. But how old is to old? Barring a catastrophic failure of some kind. If the equipment is 10 years or younger keep it. If it is 15 years or older replace it. The 5 years in between is up for grabs.

One last comment your utility company may offer great incentives to save you money when you upgrade. Also if you upgrade in the off season when Heating and Air companies are slow you'll get a better price to.

 

 

 

Troy Dobson             Fair Oaks, California getaliving@comcast.net