With our hot, humid climate and extended cooling season, an A/C has to work extra hard to keep a home comfortable. If you’re questioning whether your equipment can keep living up to the challenge, you can figure out its expected life span by looking at the following three factors:

• Age – The average air conditioner life span is roughly 15 years. The yearly workout that cooling equipment gets in Florida can shorten its service life, especially if an A/C doesn’t receive a professional tuneup and cleaning each year. If your air conditioner is 10 years old or older, it’s wise to replace it before frequent repairs and a loss of cooling capacity begin to negatively impact your wallet and comfort. Waiting too long may leave you in a sticky, uncomfortable predicament if the A/C fails and has to be replaced.
• Humidity control – Indoor humidity can easily get out of control when your A/C starts showing its age and can’t move air well anymore. Older equipment is often oversized, and when that’s compounded by leaky ductwork and inadequate air circulation, your home will stay hot and steamy because it’s not being dehumidified properly. Other problems can start developing too, including mild and mildew growth, poor air quality and damage to your home’s structure, woodwork and furnishings.
• Energy costs – If you notice a sharp rise in energy bills each cooling season, the inefficient operation of your aging A/C may be the cause. Another factor that plays a large role in your energy costs is the equipment’s seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER). If it was built before 2006, it’s probably a SEER 10. New equipment today offers SEER ratings between 13 and 24. This may not sound like a dramatic improvement, but an A/C rated at 16 consumes 60 percent less energy than a SEER 10. The savings become even more significant if you buy Energy Star-certified equipment, which slashes energy consumption by another 15 percent.

If you need advice about how to figure out the air conditioner life span in your Jacksonville area home, contact us at Ocean State Air Conditioning & Heating today.

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