680. The $1,300 Rule: When to Repair or Replace Your HVAC

Home and Life Comfort with Derek Cole. Welcome back to Home and Life Comfort podcast. I'm Derek Cole. Good to be back with you. Sorry for a few weeks of deep dive, but only because I've been under the weather and you know, this weather and the cold season, it got me as well. So I'm back. Feel better, sound a lot better, but let's get into it. All right, let's, let's talk about one of the most common and expensive questions homeowners face. When your heat or AC breaks down, a technician comes out, you get the diagnosis and then you get the, the price and suddenly you're stuck asking yourself, do I repair this thing or is it time to replace this thing? Most people kind of guess their way through that decision. And some throw away money into an old system for years. Others replaced too early because they're scared of another breakdown. So today we're talking what to do, taking the guesswork out of it completely and giving yourself the best chance to win with a straightforward rule giving you the best chance to win. I'm giving you a rule and how to make a smart financial decision for your home without emotion, without pressure or confusion. It's called the thirteen hundred dollar rule. Now, obviously prices have increased with inflation, everything going on in the industry, but this still holds, holds true. If Your system is 12 to 15 years old and you start looking at a repair cost of $1300 or more, you seriously need to think about looking at replacement instead of doing the repair. Not because the repair, not because the repair won't work, but because what usually happens next. Once a system hits that age bracket, that age range, major components start lining up to fail. Compressors wear out, motors weaken, control boards go bad, refrigerant starts leaking out, energy efficiency drops. You fix one thing, then another, then another. Before long, you're putting real money into a system that's already living on borrowed time. I, I relayed this especially with the compressor going up on a 12, 15 old unit. I said, look, you're putting, you're putting a new heart. The heart of the system is the compressor, right? You're putting a new heart in a 80 year old person, okay? The veins and arteries of that person is, is already aged. It cannot handle a new heart. It cannot handle a 20 year old person's heart that pumps at full capacity because your veins and arteries, or in this case the coals, the refrigerant lines, all that is aged as well. So now you're taking a new heart that pumps at 100% and you're putting it into an old body, if that makes sense. So at this point they really start. I don't say nickel and dime, they start hundred dollar to death. Of course prices have gone up since I started using that phrase, but you get what I'm saying. It's not a nickel and dime trap, it's a hundreds of dollar trap. Every single time, you know, you spend 1300, $1500 fixing a, you know, 12 year old unit and then six months later another part fails, a blow motor fails, you have a cool leak. Now there are three or four hundred dollars in and you're still running a system with no warranty, no long term reliability. That's the trap. Repairing an older system feels cheaper in the moment, but over time it costs more money financially and mentally because you're never really going to trust it again. Every strange noise, every hot day, every cold snap, you're wondering if today is the day it's going to quit. And never, never discount peace of mind and what that's worth to you because you've had these thoughts. You have the older system and you know it's fixing to be 100 degrees or it's fixed to be 10 degrees and you're thinking, is my system going to fail? I want to do everything to make sure I have heat, I want to do everything to make sure I have cool air because like my family needs it. So that thought is always in the back of your head. So what replacement actually changes is not only the system, but your mindset. A properly installed new system gives you a full warranty on parts, usually 10 years. In our case 10 years, better efficiency, lower energy bills, better airflow, because now you're pumping at full capacity. The whole system is pumping at full capacity. It's usually a quieter operation. You have fewer breakdowns and you have again, don't discount this. You have real peace of mind. And when it's backed by the right company, that protection goes even further. So we're talking about usually a 10 year partial warranty. The ones that we install come with a 10 year labor warranty. So all you have to worry about for the next decade is doing proper maintenance on that system twice a year. Your one, your warranty only voids repairs when it's a dirt related repair or it's an act of God. So we're taking away that dirt related repair because we're doing regular maintenance and we have records of that. So all you have to worry about now is acts of God, flood, hurricane stuff that's obviously not covered under manufacturer's warranty. But when we take care of you, we have a 10 year labor warranty and a lifetime workmanship guarantee on the incident. That means you're not just cover for parts, but you're covered for the entire system for the next decade and a lifetime because you know that we've installed it right. You're not going to pay for repair because of a manufactured or an install error because you're not liable for it. You have that peace of mind to not be liable for it. The best equipment in the world will fail if it's installed wrong. Some customers believe in brand. They believe in, you know, Trane carrier, Ruud. Whatever the brand is, it's basically the same stuff. But if it's installed incorrectly, it doesn't matter what the name is, it's going to fail if it's installed incorrectly. This isn't something like a fridge where you just get it from Best Buy, plug it in, get it from Lowe's, plug it in and boom, you're done. No, these are systems that have to be installed correctly by manufacturer specs and stood behind by a company with a reputation for this kind of work. Now, let's talk about something else that people rarely consider, which is operating costs. Older systems lose efficiency every single year. Even if they still run, they run longer and harder and do the same job. That means higher power bills every single month. And newer, higher, high efficiency system can save homeowners three to five hundred dollars per year on utilities over five years. That's 1500 or 2,500 back in your pocket, money that you would have been spending to keep an older system alive. So with the older system, not only is it costing you repairs over time, not only is it unreliable, you don't have any kind of warranty with it, but you also have higher energy costs every single month because that system is running as hard as it can. So people say, I'll just keep repairing it because it's cheaper. That's not always true. If you look at the full picture now, before you panic and assume you need a new system, always check the basics. Check the basics first before you freak out, before you start thinking doomsday, check the basics. Dirty air filters. You should be checking your air filters every month. Replace them every one to three months based on your home and what you need. Check your filters. Check your thermostat. Make sure you don't have thermostat problems. Trip breakers, outdoor units clogged. Check that. You know, when you get done mowing, if it's got a bunch of grass on it. You know, rinse that off with the hose. Rinse it off very lightly, very gently. Allow the system to breathe. These are basic things that I've seen for years that could cause a problem, but it's something you can do yourself. So a severely clogged filter alone can shut the system down and make it look broken. So start simple, always. Then get a professional involved. If you're still having an issue. Sometimes it's crystal clear. Maybe the system is 11 years old, 12 years old. Maybe the repair is right in that gray area. That's when you ask for both options. Get the repair price, get the replacement quote. Make sure that contractor is doing a proper load calculation on the home dead giveaway. Then step back. Look at three things. The age, the repair cost, the efficiency. Look at three things. Age, repair cost, efficiency. That combination will tell you what the right move is. No pressure, no guessing, just the facts. And that's something that any contractor would be willing to walk you through and give you the best advice. If they have a long reputation, they have great reviews. Listen to their advice, they probably have the best in mind. But if you're looking this and it's 1112 year unit and, and you got a $800 repair, what's the gut feeling? The gut feeling is I would feel better with that new System and a 10 year parts and labor warranty. Or you know what? This is the first major problem I've had in 11 years. We'll do this one repair and let's see what happens. Go with that feeling. At the end of the day, the decision isn't emotional. It needs to be practical. If your system is newer and the repair is minor, fix it and keep rolling. If it's older and the repair is expensive, replacing often saves money, stress and repeated breakdowns down the road. Make this decision once, make it wisely, then move forward knowing your comfort is handled for the long haul. If you ever find yourself facing their repair or replace decision, now you've got the rule. Home and life comfort with Derek Cole.