Repair or Replace, Honestly
There is no clever formula, but there are clear markers. A compressor failure out of warranty on a system past ten years is rarely worth funding. A leaking indoor coil on equipment still running phased-out refrigerant is usually the end of the road. Two significant repairs in one season means the third is coming.
Equally, plenty of systems that somebody has recommended replacing have years left in them. A failed capacitor on an eight-year-old unit is a cheap repair, not a reason to buy a new machine, and being told so is often the most useful outcome of a visit.
Sizing, and Why Bigger Backfires
Cooling capacity and moisture removal are not the same job, and only the first one happens quickly. Water leaves the air gradually, while the coil is cold and the blower is running, so a system that overshoots the thermostat in a few minutes never gets round to dehumidifying.
In Palm Beach County that is the difference between a comfortable house and a cold, clammy one where the windows sweat. The fix is a room-by-room load calculation before anything is specified — glazing, orientation, insulation, duct condition, occupancy — and ordering against the number it produces rather than against the tonnage that happens to be there now.
- Short cycling that leaves indoor humidity stubbornly above sixty percent
- Cold air that still feels damp, and condensation forming around vents
- Wear accumulating from start-ups rather than from run hours
- Rooms at the end of the duct run that never quite catch up
- A higher purchase price for equipment that performs worse than the right size
Matching the Pair
Indoor and outdoor equipment are engineered and rated together. Replacing the condenser alone and leaving an older air handler in place is common, cheaper on the day, and reliably disappointing: the published efficiency figures assume a matched pair and you will not see them.
It also complicates the warranty position on both halves. There are genuine exceptions — a nearly new air handler, a documented matched combination — and we will tell you when you are in one rather than using it as a reason to sell more equipment. Customers of AC Repair Wellington are told which situation they are in before the quote is written.
Commissioning, and the Paperwork
Removal and recovery documented, line set replaced or properly flushed, pad set level, electrical brought to current code, drain fitted with a trap and a float switch. Then the system is evacuated to a deep vacuum with a micron gauge on it, the charge weighed in to the manufacturer figure, and airflow measured and adjusted at the blower.
Superheat and subcooling are verified once it has run long enough to settle, and the whole reading set is written down and left with you along with the permit, the inspection and the manufacturer registration. A system that is installed but never commissioned will quietly underperform for fifteen years and nobody will ever know why.
Questions We Get Asked
- How long will I be without cooling?
- A straightforward changeout is one working day, so you lose most of a day and are comfortable by evening. Duct alterations or an electrical upgrade can push it into a second day, and that gets said before you commit rather than discovered on the morning.
- Is a permit really necessary?
- Yes, and we pull it and arrange the inspection. An unpermitted changeout is a problem you inherit at closing when you sell the house, and it is a strong signal about anyone willing to offer it as a shortcut.
- What about the refrigerant change?
- New equipment now ships with R-454B after the 2025 phase-down of higher-GWP blends. It changes service procedures and parts availability rather than how the house feels, but it is worth understanding on both the system leaving and the one arriving.