AC Replacement Or AC Repair?

You’re conflicted about your air-conditioning unit. The phone already in hand, you’re debating whether to call for AC replacement service or express repair. What you do know is the heat is unbearable, so you must decide soon.

When to Get Your AC Repaired

If your AC suddenly stops working, get it repaired. Do this, especially if you need air-conditioning now. Heatwave, a tropical desert climate or excessive humidity – take your pick. The urgency of the situation may not allow you to wait, in which case, you don’t have much choice but to call for repairs.

The following are issues your AC repair specialist may be able to fix:

• Dirty or clogged air filters: Clogged filters lead to poor airflow.
• Closed-off vents: A vent might have been closed, going against the original AC plan and weakening the airflow in neighbouring vents.
• Capacitor failure: Capacitor failure can lead to warm air from the vents.
• Condenser unit blockage: Blockage in condenser units leads to heat exchange problems and inefficient cooling.
• Clogged condenser coils: Clogged condenser coils can cause continuous rattling noises.
• Loose or damaged electrical connections: Loose or damaged electricals can cause buzzing and the smell of burning plastic. These are hazard signs.
• Dripping or pooling liquid: Liquid pooling around the AC can mean a refrigerant leak or clogged drainage lines.

A regular AC cleaning and maintenance schedule can prevent the above issues and ensure your AC will run efficiently and optimally for a long time.

When to Get Your AC Replaced

You can continue plugging refrigerant leaks, replacing failed capacitors with new ones, and unclogging condenser coils – but should you?

If repair costs exceed or are around the cost of AC replacement, replace your AC. Consider a replacement, too, if you frequently experience AC problems. Your individual AC issues may be a sign of a much bigger, underlying problem. You should also opt for replacement if your AC is undersized or oversized.

Choosing the Right AC Size

Is your bill consistently higher than expected? That may indicate your AC unit is not the correct size. An air-conditioning specialist can tell you if this is the case.

When replacing your AC, let professionals handle AC unit selection (particularly calculating your size requirements) and installation. This will ensure your replacement AC will have the correct capacity.

Why Capacity Is Important

Choosing the right air conditioner is crucial for efficient cooling. An oversized AC can cool your space too quickly, causing the compressor to stop soon after starting. These intermittent, short-cycle operations can be harmful, not only because they stress your system but also because they make the AC unable to remove excess humidity in the air. The result is a clammy atmosphere.

Conversely, an undersized unit will strain to cool your home and never quite succeed. Your space will feel warm instead of comfortably cool. Since undersized air-conditioners also remain on for too long, they consume a lot of energy. Additionally, since they have sub-optimal long cycles, the stress on components that stay on for long periods can cause excessive wear and tear.

What you want, therefore, is to have the right size AC. Call an AC specialist so they can gauge what the right size is for your space. They’ll consider factors like room size, ceiling height, number of windows, available insulation, etc. when determining the right size of air-conditioner for your home.

Measuring Your Required Capacity

The following is the general procedure AC specialists use to calculate the cooling capacity (i.e., British thermal unit or BTU) you need from an air-conditioner:

1.      Measure the area.

For a single room, multiply the length and the width. Divide this into two if you have a triangular room.

If you’re cooling the entire home, calculate the area of every room, excluding non-living spaces and add all the values. For multi-story homes, you can multiply the square meterage of one floor by the number of floors but deduct the area of non-living spaces and other spaces you don’t intend to cool.

2.      Calculate the required cooling capacity or BTU.

Multiply the area by 20. This will provide a basic estimate of the required BTUs.

3.      Adjust the baseline above for specific factors.

Reduce your required cooling capacity by 10% if your home is heavily shaded. In contrast, increase capacity by 10% if your home is exposed to sunlight. Additionally, if more than two people occupy the space, increase the base cooling capacity required by 600 BTUs for every additional person beyond two.

Note that it’s probably best to keep a separate air-conditioner for your kitchen instead of including it in your centralised AC system. When calculating the cooling capacity of your kitchen AC, add 4,000 BTUs to the basic capacity you derived in step two above.

Once you have an estimated BTU, you can choose an AC unit that can supply your required cooling capacity. Note, however, that calculating cooling capacity requirements is best left to professionals.

To Repair or Replace: That Is the Question

If you need your AC back urgently, get it repaired. However, if the room is not getting comfortably cool after you have done everything, you can consider replacing your AC. Perhaps it’s just not the appropriate capacity given your requirements.