Your air conditioner plays a vital role in keeping your home comfortable. In summer, the weather in Mansfield, TX, gets extremely hot, and it is hard to imagine how uncomfortable your home would get without a properly functioning air conditioner. However, although your air conditioner is quite a durable appliance, it is not designed to last as long as your home. Therefore, there will come a time when you will need to replace it. This is because your air conditioner will gradually lose its efficiency and become more and more expensive for you to run and maintain. But when should you start thinking of a new air conditioner installation? Which signs should prompt you to consider investing in a new air conditioner? Here is how you can tell that your Mansfield, TX home needs a new air conditioner.
The Age of Your Air Conditioner
As mentioned above, air conditioners are not designed to last forever. Indeed, the average lifespan of an air conditioner is 10 to 15 years. As your air conditioner approaches the end of its lifespan, it will get more difficult for you to keep it running optimally. It might also start posing serious safety hazards. Therefore, if your air conditioner was installed more than ten years ago, you need to start talking to your HVAC service about the need to consider a new air conditioner installation. Your heating and air conditioning expert will assess the condition of your air conditioner to determine the extent of wear and tear and advise you on when you should get it replaced. Remember that a timely air conditioner replacement will go a long way in helping you avoid emergency HVAC breakdowns that might cause serious inconveniences in your house and cost you a lot of money to fix.
Frequent Air Conditioner Repairs
Like any other machine, your air conditioner is going to develop problems that will force you to call a professional air conditioning repair service. Of course, you can reduce the need for major air conditioner repairs by ensuring that your air conditioner is serviced regularly. With proper maintenance, your calls to an air conditioner repair service should be few and far between. But as your air conditioner approaches the end of its life, it will start breaking down more frequently. Unfortunately, this means that you will need to call a professional air conditioner repair service more frequently, which will make it more expensive to keep your indoor temperatures within a comfortable range. Therefore, if you have noticed that you have to get your air conditioner repaired every few days or weeks, you should consider a new air conditioner installation. As long as the new air conditioner is installed properly, the equipment should work efficiently with little, if any, need for repairs.
Increased Energy Bills
Of course, your air conditioner is one of the most significant consumers of electricity in your house. However, the amount of money you need to keep your home comfortable should be predictable from year to year. By ensuring that your air conditioner is properly serviced, you can keep its energy consumption low. However, as your air conditioner approaches the end of its life, it can gradually become less efficient and, consequently, consume more energy. In other words, no matter how well you take care of your air conditioner, your electricity might start going up as the equipment ages. Therefore, when you notice that your electricity consumption has risen sharply, you need to start thinking about a new air conditioner installation. Your new air conditioner will run more efficiently, and it might eventually save you a significant amount of money.
Your House is Getting More Uncomfortable
For you to keep your air conditioner working optimally for many years, you need to subject it to routine maintenance. However, no matter how well maintained your air conditioner is, there will come a time when its effectiveness will start diminishing. As your air conditioner ages, its ability to keep your home comfortable will gradually reduce as wear and tear take a toll on it. In other words, as your air conditioner approaches the end of its life, your home will start getting less comfortable. For instance, you might notice that some parts of your house will remain hot no matter how hard your air conditioner works. In such a situation, you will need to consider a new air conditioner installation to enhance your home’s comfort.
Your AC Uses R-22 Refrigerant
A lot of older air conditioners rely on the R-22 refrigerant. However, the production and importation of this refrigerant were recently banned in the United States, due to the effect the chemical has on the ozone layer. As such, although it is not illegal for you to continue using your old air conditioner with its R-22 refrigerant, it will not be possible for you to find the right refrigerant for it if and when you need to get it refilled. Therefore, if your air conditioner uses R-22 refrigerant, you should start considering a new air conditioner installation to avoid the inconvenience your air conditioner can cause you should its refrigerant level go down for some reason.
The Bottom Line
Overall, it is apparent that although subjecting your air conditioner to routine maintenance and ensuring that any air conditioning issues are fixed without delay can significantly improve the lifespan of your air conditioner, there will come a time when you will need to replace it. By working closely with a professional HVAC contractor, it will be much easier for you to know the right time for a new air conditioner installation. If you are looking for a reliable HVAC contractor providing air conditioner installation services in and around Mansfield, TX, Minuteman Heating & Air is an excellent choice. We have been installing air conditioners for many years, and we are a household name in our community. Feel free to contact us today for more information about our company and air conditioner installation services.