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You probably haven’t turned your air conditioning system on for several months. It’s easy to forget about your AC until the weather begins warming up in spring. It’s important at this time to schedule professional AC maintenance to ensure the cooling system is ready to get to work when the temperatures heat up. But it’s also important to recognize when you’ve got an AC that’s too old to work effectively or reliably.
The Aging Air Conditioner
If you have an air conditioning system that is more than 10 years old, you’ll want to consider if it’s ready for a replacement. ACs can often last around 10-15 years with maintenance, and when your air conditioner is in that range, pay attention to the following signs that indicate you may need a new air conditioning installation in Petersburg, IN before summer:
1. Increasing utility bills
When air conditioning systems receive annual maintenance, they’ll retain most of their original energy efficiency rating through the majority of their service life. Wear and tear will inevitably catch up, and an air conditioner will start to see a drop in its efficiency which will cause higher and higher utility bills. If your old AC is costing more to run than it ever has, it’s time to look into retiring it.
2. Frequent repair problems
How often do you need to arrange for repairs for your air conditioner? If this has become an annual occurrence, it’s better to spend the money on a new air conditioner rather than to try to push forward with an increasingly faulty older one.
3. Expensive repair problems
Pay attention to the cost of repairs as well. In general, we don’t recommend paying for any repair that’s more than half the cost of a replacement air conditioner. You can also use the “Rule of 5,000.” Multiply the repair quote by the age of the AC, and if the amount is greater than 5,000, the repair is too expensive.
4 Uneven cooling
An outward malfunction that often warns that an air conditioner is going into a final decline is an uneven distribution of cooling around the house. If you start to find hot spots in rooms when the AC is operating, it may be a warning that the AC system is losing its cooling capacity at the end of its service life.
5 Loud operation
Odd sounds from an AC are one of the best ways to detect when the unit needs repairs. However, if you have an older AC that has started to make too much noise in general whenever it runs, it often indicates that the system is too severely worn down to run effectively—you may be looking at a looming breakdown.
Professional Opinion
You don’t have to make the choice to replace your air conditioner on your own. In fact, it’s always wise to check with HVAC professionals who can assess your current air conditioning system and give you an honest opinion on the “repair or replace?” question. Our team is ready to help you with informed and helpful advice as well as whatever AC service you need afterwards.
Contact Benner Heating & Air for help when it comes to replacing your current air conditioning system. It’s Better with Benner.