Remodeling a Home

Your home is your castle, but if your air conditioner isn't pulling its weight, you certainly won't feel like it. Just because your air conditioner still works, doesn't mean that you shouldn't replace it yet. THere are a few simple questions you can ask yourself to determine if your air conditioner is in need of an upgrade.

How Old Is Your Current System?

The most important factor in whether or not your air conditioner is due for replacement is its age. Older air conditioners will break down more often and be more expensive to repair. In addition, your older air conditioner will lose efficiency over time. This means that even if you do all the maintenance and the equipment is functioning properly, your energy bills are still going to go up year after year.

In addition to the loss of efficiency over time, you have to contend with the fact that technology has increased the efficiency of air conditioners many times over in the past decade. If you were to set your current air conditioner against a modern one, your current unit would lose, even if they were both brand new. Fortunately, you don't have to try and figure out the cost differences by hand. There are online calculators that can help you determine how much of a difference upgrading your air conditioner will make in your monthly bills. Include into this calculation the estimated cost of repairs, and the decision really becomes simple.

Would A Different Type Of System Suit Your Needs Better?

Central air is the most common type of air conditioning system because it works in a lot of different scenarios, but that doesn't mean it's the best for everyone. Vacation homes that are rarely used do not necessarily need all that expensive infrastructure. If you only use a few rooms of a larger house, than a forced air system will spend energy cooling areas of your home you aren't using. You could keep your centralized system in place, but shut it down and use window units or other small devices to cool just the space you care about.

On the other hand, you may have something else now, but a central air system would fit you better. If you have no ductwork running through your house now, this is going to take a significant financial investment. However, while it might cost a pretty penny, upgrading even a small home from window units to a central system is going to greatly increase your comfort level and will probably reduce your energy costs as well.

Would You Like to Take Advantage of Modern Technology?

Technology hasn't just made air conditioners more efficient, it has also brought in new features. Smart thermostats not only allow you to adjust the temperature throughout the day, they will make suggestions to you on how to make your system even more efficient. This one doesn't require you to upgrade your HVAC system, so there's no reason to to skip it. However, you can give your new thermostat even more power if you upgrade your air conditioner as well. A multistage air conditioner has more than "on" and "off" options. It will run at two or three different levels so that it only has to run as hard as it needs to. This allows your thermostat to make smaller adjustments to temperature, using less energy and keeping you more comfortable.

If your home is large, you might also want to look into a zone-based system. This, along with a multistage air conditioner, allows your system to not only make small adjustments to temperature, but also to only send it to the areas that actually need it.

Of course, replacing your air conditioner will also depend on where your finances are at, but you can at least start saving up. If you know that air conditioner replacement is in your future, it will be easier to plan for the upgrade. That also means that if your current air conditioner does fail, you won't be in such a tough spot financially. For more information, contact a heating and air conditioning service in your area.