AC Replacement

Replacing the heating and cooling system is usually the largest check a homeowner writes outside the mortgage. We treat it that way. You will see options, including financing through the lenders we work with, and you will not be sat at the kitchen table until you sign.

We recommend replacement from the equipment, not a sales calendar. ASHRAE’s published median service life is about 15 years for a residential split air conditioner or heat pump, and about 18 years for a gas furnace. That is a median, not an expiration date, and Las Vegas heat often uses it up faster. Past that point we still look at the refrigerant, whether the failure is minor or major, what the repair costs next to a new system, and whether the house has been calling about the same equipment over and over.

A capacitor, contactor, fan motor, or control board is a repair. A compressor, a leaking coil, or a cracked heat exchanger on equipment at the end of its useful life is a replacement conversation. If we replace it, the new system is sized to ACCA standards for this house, not copied off the old data plate. We are well versed in the major brands, and the name on the box is not the recommendation.

Sizing starts with the house: square footage is not the calculation. We account for the attic, the glass, the direction the walls face, and whether one system or two is doing the work. Single-stage equipment is a simple on-off system. Two-stage and inverter equipment can run longer at a lower speed, which helps rooms that never quite catch up. We will say which one fits this house instead of defaulting to the most expensive box.

Gas heat plus air conditioning is still the common valley setup. A heat pump can do both jobs where the house and the electric service can support it. On a straight changeout, the old equipment comes out, the line set, disconnect, drain, and thermostat are handled, and we start the system before we leave. Ask if you want the financing applications.

What we look for

• Equipment past ASHRAE median service life that keeps failing
• R-22 or another refrigerant that is no longer practical to recharge
• A major repair that costs more than the life left in the system
• A system that has been consistently bothersome, season after season