this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2025
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An example: old AC running 24/7 keeping the house around 80 degrees. Electricity bills between $250-300 per month.
System replacement was ~$15k. System runs regularly now and monthly electricity bill is about $150-200 and keeps the house at 75.
So it'd take 25 years to have enough savings on the power bill (saving $100 a month for 6 months of summer)
Assuming the power company never raised rates in the coming years.
That's not quite the right comparison. You can't expect the old AC to keep working for 25 years. For stuff like that, it's really a question between replacing now versus replacing later, and the net present value of the combined cash flows when you compare replacement timelines.
“You can’t expect the old AC to keep working for 25 years”
Bullshit. A properly installed system will outlive the person that installed, easily. Even 25 years ago, the compressors were made so well that most of them are still electrically and mechanically sound.
Most refrigerants from ~25 years ago have long since been banned, and the units themselves may not be suitable for use with modern ones.
Unless you’re referring to an evaporative-style cooler, but they’re practically useless in exceptionally hot weather (anything north of like ~33 degrees Celsius).
It doesn’t matter if the refrigerant is banned.
A properly installed system is hermetically sealed. All the refrigerant it will ever need was put in the day it was installed.
I still regularly service 20+ year old R22 systems that are still trucking along just fine. And just because a refrigerant is banned doesn’t mean you cannot get it. I just bought a new tank of R-22 a few weeks ago. It was ridiculously expensive because they don’t make it anymore, but it’s perfectly legal to buy. And there are drop in replacements if a system does get damaged and develops a leak.
A week ago I retrofitted my neighbors R22 unit to 407C because the lawn guys hit the suction line with an edger. Cost my neighbor a thousand dollars to do it, but still cheaper than a new unit. He plans on selling the house in 5 years, so the electricity savings from a new unit don’t interest him, and his current unit is perfectly serviceable.
Most of these companies that say you “need” a new unit, are just out to make a buck. Unless the unit is physically destroyed or you plan to keep the house for 20+ years for the energy savings, there is little reason to get a new unit. Don’t get scammed.
A new AC here costs 400$...
For a central air split system?
Cause that’s what most American homes have.
No, I don't have that sort of fancy nonsense
Does everyone in your household spend 100% of their time in the same two metre by two metre square
No, the rest of is get fucked.
Consider that the other option is having no AC in Texas though.
Oh, Agreed 100% when it's broken beyond repair. But replacement of a working (yet now inefficient old) AC doesn't save money necessarily. Not when new units are so expensive.
We are in the south, not Texas, and really need to replace our almost 25 yr old AC. We've been repairing and trying to get another season out of it for the last 3 years.