Repair or Replace Your Aircon
Jason Gebert • October 9, 2019
When do you know if it's time to replace your air conditioner, or if its worth repairing?
There are a few things to consider when thinking about repairing or replacing your air conditioner, with the main one being "how old is the unit?". As air conditioners get to the 12 year old mark a number of brands start to discontinue parts meaning that even if a technician attends and finds the issue to be repairable, you may not be able to access parts. This could be a costly start to getting a brand new unit by the time you have paid for the call out and the technicians labour and waited to hear back from the company with regards to the part. Most reputable companies offer free quotes on new or replacement installations and if you know the unit is extremely old, a free quote could save you a bit of money. But keep in mind that a company won't offer free quotes on repairing a unit as for that to happen there is fault finding etc. that takes place and could take up to an hour and a half. If you are after a free quote for repairing an air conditioner you are asking the company to work for nothing.
Is the unit under 5 years old? The top brands all carry a 5 year parts and labour warranty meaning if your unit is under the 5 year period and has been properly maintained and there is an issue it will be covered under the warranty. But remember if the unit only requires a professional clean
(not covered under warranty) or has a refrigerant leak due to an installer error and the installer isn't the warranty agent you may be charged by the warranty agent for their attendance.
Another thing to consider is if your current unit is an inverter or not. The inverter technology has come a long way and the savings in power could save you money in the long run when thinking about repairing an older non-inverter air conditioner. The top brand air conditioners have all been primarily inverters for the last 10 years or so, but every year a new unit comes out the technology is better along with the energy savings.
Another thing to consider is if your current unit is an inverter or not. The inverter technology has come a long way and the savings in power could save you money in the long run when thinking about repairing an older non-inverter air conditioner. The top brand air conditioners have all been primarily inverters for the last 10 years or so, but every year a new unit comes out the technology is better along with the energy savings.
With the above said anything around the 8 years or below is normally worth repairing, and as you start to creep up to 10 and 12 years you should be thinking about a free quote to replace rather than a call out and repair bill only to find out parts aren't available. Or that parts are available but they're ridiculously expensive for a unit that probably only has a couple of years left in it.
When getting a free quote for a new or replacement air conditioner there are three main questions to ask any company.
1. What is the warranty period of the unit? Even some of the cheaper brands have extended their warranty from 3 years to 5, so if they are quoting anything with a warranty under 5 years we would recommend avoiding it!
2. Does the company also back up the 5 year parts and labour warranty of the product with their own 5 year installation warranty? A lot of installers will only carry a 1 year installation guarantee, but you want to make sure that if there is an issue in that 5 year period you can rely on them to re-attend and sort out the problem.
3. Does the company installing the air conditioner also warrant the brand? This is a biggie because we've seen on a number of occasions where the installer and a warranty agent get into a dispute as to who should cover the work. If an installer makes an error on a flare (not covered under warranty) you could be up for the bill from the warranty agent for attending and fixing the problem. Alternatively if you want to get your installer back to fix the problem you are still likely to receive a call out fee from the warranty agent and depending on how busy the installer is you could be waiting some time to get them out. This back and forth can become extremely frustrating when you pay for a quality product and just want it fixed! That is why we always recommend to make sure the installer is also the warranty agent for the product they are supplying so there is no excuses if an issue ever does arise.
Hopefully the information above helps you make a decision in the future, and possibly saves you some money.
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