Repair or replace? The honest math we use on every service call.

The short version

• Under 8 years old and one cheap part failed? Repair. Almost always.
• Age × repair cost above about $5,000? Replacement usually wins on math alone. A 12-year-old system needing a $600 repair is $7,200 — that money is better spent on a new system.
• R-410A system, over 10 years old, needs refrigerant or a compressor? Replace. Repair dollars on a phased-out refrigerant are the worst dollars you can spend.
• Any system, any age, with a failed capacitor, contactor, drain clog or thermostat? Repair. These are $150–$450 fixes and we'll never sell you a system over one.

Step one: what actually failed, and what it costs

We don't guess. Digital gauges, temperature probes and an amp meter tell us which component failed and whether anything else is marginal. Then we quote the repair as a fixed price before touching anything. In Central Florida, the failures we see most fall into two very different buckets:

• Cheap and common: capacitors, contactors, condensate drain clogs, thermostats, blower relays. Typically $150–$450 installed. These are maintenance-class failures and they happen to new systems too.
• Expensive and structural: compressors, evaporator coils, refrigerant leaks on R-410A systems, blower motors on older air handlers. Typically $1,200–$3,500. This is where the math matters.

Step two: the $5,000 rule, and why we still don't trust it blindly

The industry rule of thumb: multiply the system's age in years by the repair cost. Over $5,000, replace. It's a decent first filter. A 4-year-old system with a $900 coil repair is $3,600 — repair. A 13-year-old system with the same repair is $11,700 — replace.

Where the rule fails: it ignores what you'd actually pay for the replacement and what you'd save on power. So we finish the math with our real numbers. A standard central system installed runs $5,400–$12,800 depending on home size (the exact range for your home is on our price page). Put your repair quote next to that figure, then add the two items below.

Step three: the two numbers most quotes leave out

• Efficiency. A 2010-era 13 SEER system replaced with a 15.2 SEER2 heat pump uses meaningfully less electricity for the same cooling — in a Florida home that runs the AC nine months a year, that is typically a few hundred dollars a year, more for large homes. Over a 15-year system life it adds up to a real share of the purchase price.
• R-410A. R-410A is being phased out of new equipment. Existing systems can still be serviced, but refrigerant prices are rising and will keep rising. A repair that needs several pounds of R-410A on an older system is money into a shrinking asset. Our full explanation is in the R-410A article.

A worked example from a Kissimmee call

Twelve-year-old 3-ton R-410A system, compressor failed. Repair quote: $2,400 (compressor, labor, refrigerant, warranty on the part only). Age × cost = $28,800 — far past the rule. Replacement, good tier, installed: about $7,400. Power savings at 15.2 SEER2: roughly $300–$400 a year. Manufacturer warranty on the new system: 10 years on parts, registered in the homeowner's name. Carrier Cool Cash and utility rebates can take $1,500–$2,500 off the top when they're running.

Our answer on that call: replace. Not because we sell systems — because the repair bought maybe two more summers on a compressor's worth of refrigerant nobody wants to keep filling.

Same house, same system, but the failure was a $220 capacitor? Repair, in under an hour, and we'd have said so in the driveway.