Three Signs You Need To Replace Your Air Conditioner
Your home's air conditioning system is the only thing working to keep the interior of your home comfortable to live within during the scorching summer months. Just like all of the other appliances in your home, however, your air conditioner will begin to wear down and degrade over time, losing its effectiveness and efficiency as it ages. In order to avoid having to deal with a sudden system failure during the height of the summer, there are a few warning signs that you should look out for to determine when it's time to consider replacing your central air conditioning unit.
Constant Operation
One of the clearest signs that your air conditioner has reached the end of its lifespan is if the unit never turns off. This points to an overall reduction in efficiency, causing your air conditioner to work constantly to maintain a temperature that it otherwise was able to maintain without too much effort. You will likely notice that the overall comfort level within your home is reduced as well, since your unit will struggle to provide cool air to the whole area. This may be hard to notice on its own, so you may have to actively monitor the operation of your unit.
In some cases, you may find that your air conditioner will cycle on and off rapidly as it tries to maintain a certain temperature, which is easier to notice than constant operation and will also exert a massive amount of wear on your air conditioner, making failure more likely.
Loud Operation
Another indicator that something is wrong with the interior of your air conditioning unit is if you notice that the unit is significantly louder when it turns on then it was before, especially if some of those noises are irregular. Any sound of banging, grinding, or squealing can point to damage to specific moving components – leaving this problem alone can cause further mechanical damage that makes a complete failure much more likely.
Increased Energy Bills
Finally, one of the clearest signs that your air conditioner is no longer operating as effectively as it should be is if you notice that your energy bills have suddenly skyrocketed even though you've maintained the same temperature within your home that you always do. This points to an aging air conditioner that is no longer able to produce cool air at the same rate, increasing power usage and operating time.