Repair or Replace? This is always a difficult a decision.

On one hand you don't want to spend money on a new system, but on the other hand, you don't want to th row good money after bad. Which way should you go? It really boils down to the c ondition and age of the air conditioning system. If you have been keeping your equipment properly maintained by a licensed air co nditioning technician, then perhaps the current repair is isolated to a single, simple problem and not indicative of a major or potentially recurring issue. In this case it might make sense to repair and fix the problem. However, with any e quipment it is important to consider its efficiency and the impact that wear and tear has on that efficiency and on your monthly electric bill. The Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) rates the efficiency of an air condi tioning unit. A unit somewhere around 10 years old would probably have been an 8 SEER unit at time of purchase. Over time this unit will wear down and operate s omewhere around the 5-6 SEER level. The higher the SEER rating, the higher the e fficiency of the unit. In 2006 the minimum SEER rating for an Air Conditioning u nit was raised to 13 SEER. Upgrading to a newer Air Conditioning unit is surpris ingly affordable based on the efficiency level of modern equipment. The money sa ved on your electric bill from upgrading will pay for the unit itself. So transi tioning from an 8 SEER unit to a new 18 SEER unit will allow better performance at your current budget. The warm air inside your home blows across the indoor evaporator coil and the he at energy from the air transfers to the refrigerant inside the coil. Think of th e refrigerant like a sponge, absorbing the heat from the air. As a result, the a ir is now cool . The cooler air is circulated back through the home providing comfo rt. The refrigerant is pumped back to the compressor where the heat absorbed by the refrigerant is released and cycle begins again. Moisture that contributes to humidity is also condensed out of the air. Your cooling system is usually combined with your central heating system because they share the same ductwork for distributing conditioned air throughout your h ome. This is important because the compressor on your air conditioner consumes more p ower on start up than any other device in your home. Start up is the hardest tim e in the life of any type of electrical equipment. Ever notice that light bulbs almost always burn out when you first turn them on and not while they are on? Th is is due to the huge current that rushes in when a switch is thrown and power i s first applied.