AC installation and replacement for homes and commercial buildings

Start with age: most systems in Central Florida are done between twelve and fifteen years, because they run most of the year. After that, watch for a pattern. The usual signs are a second big repair in two summers, rooms that never catch up on a hot afternoon, bills climbing while the thermostat setting hasn't moved, a unit on R-22 refrigerant (which is no longer made), and a compressor that trips the breaker on start. One sign on its own usually means a repair, but three of them together mean it's time to talk about replacement.

It depends on three things: the age of the system, what this repair costs, and what the next one is likely to be. A single part on a unit under ten years old is almost always worth fixing. A compressor or a coil on a unit past twelve, or a system still on R-22 refrigerant, usually isn't worth it, because that's like putting a new engine in an old car. We tell you which it is after the diagnosis, in writing, and the choice is yours.

Usually, and the older the current one, the bigger the gap. Efficiency ratings have climbed for years, so a new system does the same cooling on noticeably less power than one from the mid-2000s, and it's sized to the house rather than to whatever was on the truck that day. Two cautions: the saving depends on how much you run it and what you pay per kilowatt-hour, so we don't promise a percentage; and a new unit on leaky ducts throws part of the gain into the attic. We look at both before we quote.

No, a bigger unit is usually worse. An oversized system cools the air fast and shuts off before it has pulled the moisture out, so the house hits 74 and still feels damp. It also short-cycles its way to an early failure. An undersized unit runs all afternoon and never catches up. The right size comes from a load calculation that looks at square footage, insulation, the windows and which way they face, the duct runs and how the space is used. The size of the old unit is a useful clue, but it can't give you the answer on its own. Houses get insulated, rooms get added, and plenty of old units were the wrong size to begin with.

A like-for-like changeout on a house is usually a day: the old system out in the morning, the new one set, connected, charged and running by the afternoon, with the house without cooling for most of that day. Add ductwork, a new line set or electrical work and it's two. A rooftop unit on a commercial building is a crane and a morning. A changeout needs a mechanical permit in Florida, and the inspection comes after; the system runs in the meantime.