Should I Replace a 20-Year-Old AC Unit?
Maintaining a high-functioning and highly efficient air conditioner in your Seattle, WA home is increasingly important. Once known for rain spells that stretched for weeks, Seattle is now seeing more triple-digit summer temperatures than ever before. Unfortunately, turning your AC on and listening to it hum isn’t a good gauge of its actual condition. This is especially true if your air conditioner has already supplied over two decades of service. Hanging onto an air conditioner you purchased and installed 20 years ago could lead to unfortunate surprises. Read on to find out why you should replace your old air conditioner, even if it still does a pretty impressive job of cooling.
The Standard for Residential AC Refrigerant Has Changed
Air conditioner refrigerant is the lifeblood of cooling systems. Your AC cools your Seattle home by extracting warm air from the building interior and passing it over its refrigerant-filled evaporator coil. The icy refrigerant inside this coil extracts the air’s heat and humidity and funnels them outdoors.
In the early 2000s, Freon or R-22 remained the industry standard for residential AC refrigerant. However, Freon releases both ozone-depleting chemicals and chemicals that contribute to warming in the earth’s stratosphere. In 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) implemented a 10-year phase-out of Freon, and in 2020, this phase-out was completed with an outright Freon ban. Both the domestic production and the importation of Freon are no longer lawful in the U.S.
This has left many people with 20-year-old ACs, fighting for a fast-dwindling Freon supply. If your air conditioner develops a refrigerant leak in the cooling seasons to come, you could pay a veritable fortune for Freon recharge service. You’ll also have a much harder time finding HVAC technicians who are trained and certified to handle this refrigerant.
Many air conditioners manufactured after 2010 use Puron or R-410A. However, even Puron is on its way out. The latest residential ACs use R-454B or Puron Advance. This refrigerant is both better for the environment and far more efficient. Replacing your 20-year-old AC with a model that uses cutting-edge refrigerants can result in a significant reduction in your summertime cooling costs.
Air Conditioners Often Lose Half of Their Efficiency After Just 10 Years
Outdated refrigerant isn’t the only efficiency concern when using a 20-year-old air conditioner. Even if your AC had the highest possible efficiency rating when it was first installed, aging air conditioners progressively lose efficiency over time. In fact, by some estimates, air conditioners can lose up to half of their efficiency after just 10 years of service. Your air conditioner is using far more energy than it once did to produce the same results. With electricity rates rising as well, opting for new and more efficient cooling equipment is easily the most economical choice.
Your Most Costly AC Repairs Lie Just Ahead
Not only do air conditioners lose efficiency as they get older, but their likelihood of developing major problems rises. Most air conditioners experience the majority of their repair issues within the last two years of their service lives. If you haven’t had to pay for a major AC repair before, your air conditioner could develop one in the current or next cooling season. If you’ve already been paying for increasingly frequent and costly repairs, you can’t expect things to get much better. Worst of all, end-of-life AC problems typically occur well after AC manufacturers’ warranties have expired.
Old Cooling Equipment Diminishes Indoor Air Quality
During annual AC maintenance, HVAC technicians clean both indoor and outdoor components. This supports efficient operation and protects and improves indoor air quality (IAQ). However, aging air conditioners tend to harbor tough, tacky debris. They also become less effective at regulating humidity. If people in your household are constantly coughing, sneezing, or rubbing their eyes when your AC is on, poor indoor air quality could be why. Installing new cooling equipment will give you cleaner, fresher-smelling air, better humidity control, and an all-around more comfortable living environment.
A Lot Has Changed in Home Cooling Equipment
Variable-speed fan motors are but one of many air conditioner innovations you may be missing out on. Variable-speed AC fans automatically adjust their operating speeds to meet real-time cooling needs. In some instances, this can reduce home cooling costs by as much as 25% to 50%. When AC blower motors and fans aren’t operating at full speed all of the time, people can enjoy continuous cooling and still maintain manageable home energy bills.
Other cutting-edge improvements in residential air conditioners include:
- Integrative smart technologies
- Built-in air purification
- Whisper-quiet operation
- App-based controls
When replacing your 20-year-old air conditioner, shop for a model with cutting-edge features and functions that cut your energy use, limit ongoing maintenance, and contribute to a healthier home.
AC Replacement Will Modernize Your Home and Add to Its Value
AC replacement is an excellent home improvement for boosting the value and appeal of your property. If you plan on selling your home in the coming months or years, this addition will make it easier to attract motivated buyers and command a high selling price.
Avoid Mid-Season Cooling Emergencies
In general, summers in Seattle are pretty mild. However, when hot spells do roll in, they bring temperatures that are downright unsafe for residents who lack functional cooling equipment. Unfortunately, these are the times when older air conditioners are forced to do more work than they normally do, and they experience more operational stress as a result. In short, your 20-year-old AC has the highest likelihood of experiencing a mid-season breakdown when you need it most. Putting new cooling equipment in now will keep everyone in your home safe and comfortable, even when the outside temperature soars.
Timing Your Replacement
All air conditioners have finite lifespans. Although you might not want to replace your AC now, you will have to replace it soon. You can work with our HVAC technicians to time your replacement effectively. This way, you aren’t taking on unnecessary financial stress or waiting until your cooling system fails completely.
Several signs that you should replace your AC sooner than later include:
- Rising and unmanageable indoor humidity
- Severe IAQ-related symptoms among building residents
- Multiple repair issues in a single season
- Unmanageable home cooling costs
- Loud, jarring sounds and strange AC odors
You can make side-by-side comparisons of your summertime energy bills for the current year and the past several years to assess decreases in AC efficiency. According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), HVAC use can account for up to half of the average home energy bill. Thus, major efficiency-related changes in your home cooling costs should be readily apparent.
You should also total up all of your AC repair costs for the past five years. With additional problems lying just ahead, you might find that you’ve already paid close to the cost of a new air conditioner or that you’re poised to do so within the next one to two years.
Our Professional HVAC Company
We help homeowners in Seattle, WA make informed decisions about their home cooling equipment. We offer expert AC, furnace, ductless mini-split, and heat pump services. We also provide top-notch plumbing, electrical, and IAQ services. If you have questions about AC replacement or want a hassle-free quote, contact Brennan Heating & Air Conditioning now.
