When One Unit of an AC Fails, It’s Best to Upgrade the Whole System

air conditioning unit

With split-system central air conditioning and heat pump systems, it’s not unusual for one of the two units to fail before the other. Most often, it’s the outside compressor/condenser unit that gives up before the inside evaporator/air handler; this is because the one outside is exposed to the elements. As often as this happens, it’s not surprising that homeowners frequently find themselves asking whether they can just replace the outside unit, or do they have to buy a whole new split-system AC?

In most cases, the answer is an emphatic NO when it comes to just replacing the unit that has failed.

Your Equipment Was Designed to Work Together

Split-system ACs and heat pumps, the most common central HVAC units at work today, are engineered and designed to work together as one cohesive system. This results in optimum performance and energy efficiency. While it may be feasible to match a new outside unit with your old evaporator/air handler, you can’t expect the same sort of output that you’d get with a matched system.

If you choose to replace just half of your split-system AC or heat pump, you’re relinquishing the opportunity to benefit from the major design advances in HVAC technology in recent years. Buying a new matched system will exploit those advances; however, you won’t gain those benefits in performance and efficiency if you just replace one of the two units.

Energy efficiency – the amount of cooling you get from the electricity that’s input into the split-system AC – is the main area where you can expect to lose out on new technology if you don’t upgrade to a new matched system. If you match a new outside (or inside) unit with your old inside (or outside) unit, you will not benefit from the high efficiency that most modern systems boast. This means that you’ll continue to pay higher energy bills. You won’t be able to recoup some of the cost of the new unit from the lower electric bills you’d get if you had bought a new matching system.

Your Old AC Unit Likely Will Fail Soon Anyway

If you choose to buy just one half of a new split system, matching your old inside unit with a new outside unit, you’re just deferring the decision until that older unit itself fails in a year or two, leaving you with the same dilemma you had before. If one of the units fails, you can bet the other one won’t be far behind.

Do yourself and your home comfort and utility budget a favor: When one side of your split-system AC or heat pump fails, make the wise decision to upgrade the whole old system with a new high-performance, high-efficiency HVAC system. You’ll end up saving money on the matched system, since buying the units separately, a year or two apart, likely will cost more than if you had bought them together.

For these and other reasons, replacing your indoor and outdoor AC or heat pump units at one time is the best decision. It’s one system, and it’s meant to be purchased that way.

Furnace Tune Up

$129 System Tune Up

Maintenance Club Members
Save $30

SCHEDULE NOW

Cool Cash Savings

Save up to $2100

With Purchase of a
Qualifying System

Schedule A Quote

Plus Special Financing

0% Up to 60 Months

Subject to credit approval.
See dealer for details.

Schedule a Quote

When You Need a Furnace Repair, This Is No Time to Cut Corners

Faced with repairing a furnace, the temptation is to find a contractor who will do the job at the lowest cost. It’s a relatively expensive job, so you’ll want to minimize costs. However, cutting corners on heater repair can have dire (and expensive) consequences down the line if the furnace requires another repair because of a poor job the first time, or if heaven forbid a sloppy job creates a safety hazard. The good news is that plenty of HVAC contractors in Cincinnati will do a good job at a reasonable cost with an ironclad guarantee. One of the best is Jansen Heating and Cooling.