Repair or replace: how we work it out

You've got a system that's a bit old, something has failed, somebody has quoted you a repair, and somebody has probably suggested a whole new system is the smarter move. How do you tell which one is true?

Here's how we work through it out loud on a service call. None of it is proprietary. Apply it to any quote you get, from us or from anybody else.

Start with the two numbers

The old rule of thumb was to multiply the age of the unit by the repair cost and replace if that number beat the cost of new equipment. Crude, but the instinct behind it is sound. A four hundred dollar repair on a nine year old system is easy. The same repair on a twenty year old system is money spent on something that'll ask again next year.

What matters isn't the repair cost on its own. It's the repair cost divided by the years of service you can reasonably expect afterward. A cheap repair that buys six months is expensive. A larger repair that buys eight years isn't.

Then look at what failed

Some failures are ordinary wear. Capacitors, contactors, ignitors, flame sensors, blower motors, control boards. These are replaceable parts on an otherwise sound machine, and replacing them is normally right regardless of age.

Some failures are structural. A cracked heat exchanger, a failed compressor, a leaking evaporator coil in an older refrigerant system. Those are the expensive components, and once one of them goes on an aging system the arithmetic usually flips.

If somebody quotes you a full replacement for a failure in the first group, ask them directly why the repair isn't the better option. A good answer exists sometimes. A vague one tells you what you need to know.

The refrigerant question

If your system runs an older refrigerant that's being phased down, availability and cost move in one direction over time. That's real, and it isn't a scare tactic. It doesn't mean a working system needs replacing today. It does mean a large refrigerant related repair on an older system is worth thinking twice about.

The part people forget

Sometimes the system is fine and the house isn't. Rooms that never get comfortable, humidity that never comes down, a second floor running eight degrees warmer than the first. Those are usually sizing, ductwork or airflow problems, and swapping the equipment without fixing them buys you a newer machine with the same complaints.

Ask whoever quotes you a replacement how they sized it. If they matched what was already sitting there, that isn't sizing. That's copying.

What we'll tell you

If your system is repairable and worth repairing, we'll repair it. If it's at the end and you're about to spend real money propping it up, we'll say that too, and show you both numbers so you can decide for yourself.