Air conditioner: repair or replace?
Most AC failures are inexpensive, common parts. The big exception is compressor and refrigerant work, where the age and type of your system changes the answer more than almost any other repair on this site.
A central air conditioner that's stopped cooling, is leaking water, or has developed a new noise covers a wide range of possible causes, from a $150 capacitor that any technician can swap in an hour to an $800 to $2,800 compressor or refrigerant repair that genuinely deserves a harder look before you approve it. The right answer depends heavily on which of these you're actually facing, and, for the expensive end of that range, on how old your system is and what refrigerant it uses.
A central AC's expected lifespan, and what shortens it
A central air conditioner typically lasts 15 to 20 years, though heavy use or a harsh climate, meaning long, hot cooling seasons that run the system hard for months at a time, can bring that down to 10 to 12 years. Where your system falls in that range matters more here than for most appliances, because the most expensive repair category on this list, compressor and refrigerant work, is exactly where age should weigh most heavily on the decision.
The one factor that changes the whole calculation: R-22 refrigerant
If your system was installed before roughly 2010, it almost certainly runs on R-22 refrigerant, which has been phased out of production. R-22 now costs $80 or more per pound and is becoming genuinely scarce. This matters enormously if the recommended repair involves refrigerant, because you'd be paying premium prices to refill a system with a substance that's actively disappearing from the market, on top of whatever the labor itself costs.
This is worth checking before agreeing to any refrigerant-related repair on an older system, since it can make what looks like a moderate repair cost far more, and far less sensible, than the sticker price on the invoice alone suggests.
What the common failures actually cost to fix
A failed capacitor or contactor is the most frequent AC complaint and one of the cheapest to fix, $150 to $500, typically buying 4 to 8 more years since these are simple electrical components with no bearing on the system's overall health. A condensate pump or drain pan issue runs $140 to $1,500 depending on severity and buys 3 to 6 years. A blower motor problem or mechanical noise runs $150 to $950, also buying 3 to 6 years.
The outlier is compressor failure or a major refrigerant leak, running $800 to $2,800 and buying only 2 to 5 years even when it goes well. This is the repair where the age and refrigerant-type questions above genuinely need answering before you commit, in a way they don't for the cheaper, more contained repairs.
The math that actually matters: cost per year, not just cost
A full AC replacement resets to a fresh 15 to 20 year lifespan, averaging roughly $250 to $450 a year. A $300 capacitor repair buying 6 more years works out to about $50 a year, a clear win. A $2,000 compressor repair buying 3 years on an aging, R-22 system works out to roughly $667 a year, meaningfully worse value than replacement, and that's before accounting for the rising cost of the refrigerant itself. This is precisely why the same category of repair, compressor and refrigerant work, can be an easy yes on a newer system and a clear no on an older one.
What a full replacement actually costs
A full central AC system replacement, installed, typically runs $4,000 to $8,000, making it one of the larger single-system purchases most homeowners face. Given how much the R-22 question above can affect the real cost of repairing an older unit, it's worth getting a genuine replacement quote to compare against before approving a major refrigerant-related repair, rather than assuming the repair is automatically the cheaper path.
FAQ
Common questions
How do I know if my AC uses R-22 refrigerant?
Age is the best proxy: a system installed before roughly 2010 almost certainly uses R-22. A technician can also confirm this directly by checking the unit's nameplate or the refrigerant type printed on the outdoor condenser.
Is it worth repairing an R-22 system at all?
It depends on the specific repair. Inexpensive fixes unrelated to refrigerant, like a capacitor or a blower motor, are still worth doing. It's specifically refrigerant-related work, a recharge or a leak repair, where the calculation shifts, since you'd be paying rising prices for a refrigerant that's being phased out entirely.
Why does compressor repair buy so few years compared to other AC repairs?
A compressor is one of the most heavily used components in the system, so by the time it fails, it's often a sign the whole system has absorbed significant wear, not an isolated failure the way a capacitor or blower motor issue usually is.
Should I replace my AC and furnace at the same time?
It's worth considering if both are aging into a similar window, since bundling the work can sometimes reduce combined labor and disposal costs, and matching a new AC to an aging furnace, or vice versa, can occasionally cause compatibility issues with airflow and efficiency. It's a separate decision worth discussing with whoever quotes the work, not something this guide assumes by default.
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Ready to see the numbers for your unit?
The calculator below weighs your unit's specific age against the repair cost, so you get a straight answer rather than a general rule of thumb.