Repair or replace: how to think about an ageing system
Age alone is a poor guide. Four other facts about the system decide it faster, and one of them is the refrigerant it runs on.
6 min readUpdated
Central air in this climate generally runs 12 to 17 years. That range is wide enough to be useless on its own, because a well maintained system at 16 can be worth repairing and a neglected one at 9 may not be. Work through these instead.
What refrigerant does it use
A system on R-22 is the clearest case. Production and import of R-22 ended in the United States in 2020, so any repair involving refrigerant now draws on reclaimed stock at a price that climbs every year. A leak on an R-22 system is usually the end of the conversation.
Is the failure inside the sealed system
Capacitors, contactors, fan motors and control boards are ordinary repairs, and replacing one on a sound system is money well spent. Compressor failure and evaporator coil leaks are different: the part is a large fraction of the cost of a new system, and it sits inside the sealed refrigeration circuit. That is the line most decisions turn on.
How often has it been out
- One repair in five years is a system worth keeping.
- Two or three calls across two summers usually signals the start of a pattern rather than bad luck.
- Rising electricity bills with no change in habits point to a system losing efficiency rather than one about to fail outright.
How long are you staying
A replacement is a 15 year decision. If you are moving in two years, a sound repair is often the right call, because a buyer will not pay a premium for a new condenser. If you are staying, the calculation reverses and the efficiency difference starts to matter.