Repair or Replace? Five Signs Your AC Is Done

A South Florida air conditioner runs closer to a commercial duty cycle than a northern residential one. Most systems here last ten to fifteen years, and the last two of those years are often the expensive ones.

Sign one: the system is over twelve years old and needs a repair costing more than a third of a replacement. Sign two: it uses R-22 refrigerant, which is no longer produced and now costs more per pound than most repairs are worth.

Sign three: rooms are unevenly cooled and humidity stays above sixty percent even when the thermostat is satisfied. That is usually capacity or duct loss, not a thermostat problem. Sign four: your summer bill has climbed year over year with no change in habits.

Sign five: you have paid for two or more service calls in a single season. At that point, repair spending is financing a system you will replace anyway.

Before replacing, insist on a load calculation rather than a like-for-like swap. Oversized systems short-cycle, never dehumidify properly, and make a house feel clammy at seventy-two degrees.