It’s easy to put off an air conditioner replacement because it’s an expensive undertaking and a fairly complicated process. But putting the replacement off too long will raise your electric bills and could leave you uncomfortable when the weather turns warm.
These are the signs that indicate a need for air conditioner replacement soon:
- Your electric bills soar when you run the air conditioner. As these systems age, they lose efficiency. When your bills climb continually without an increase in electrical costs, it’s a better financial move to follow through with the air conditioner replacement than to continue to use a lot of power keeping your home cool.
- Your home is excessively humid even with the air conditioner running. Systems that aren’t running as well as they should won’t remove the excess indoor humidity.
- The air conditioner is more than 10 years old. Today’s air conditioning systems offer far more energy efficiency than those that are more than 10 years old. The difference in cooling bills over the course of the summer will help offset the cost of a new system, since your bills could be as much as 30 percent lower on a monthly basis.
- Your system needs frequent repairs. Once the parts start to fail one after another, there’s little reason to continue to have the system repaired.
Once you’ve decided to replace the air conditioner, verify that you’re selecting the right size for the system. A trusted HVAC contractor will conduct a thorough examination of your home to find its cooling load using Manual J, the industry standard for sizing equipment.
After you know the size of the system, you can select the level of energy efficiency you want, revealed by its SEER (seasonal energy efficiency ratio) rating. Thirteen is the minimum, but systems are available with ratings that go into the 20s. A higher SEER will lower your electric bills even more.
To learn more about an air conditioner replacement and get more expert advice for your home, contact T.F. O’Brien Cooling & Heating. We’ve provided HVAC services for Long Island homeowners since 1934.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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