My Trane from 2001 was running through its capacitor every 3 years, then every 2 years then every year. It's hot in Texas, but that was getting ridiculous. The first capacitor was expensive, but I replaced all subsequent ones myself, even going so far as to stock a couple of spares in my house. (They only cost $20-$30 if you get them off amazon or ebay) It got to the point where if the a/c had died, I could get it running again in 20min after a quick capacitor swap (warning, high voltage, don't do it yourself unless you know what you're doing).We have a Goodman 2.5 ton AC that was manufactured in 2002. We have lived in this 1800 SF, single level, house since 1993 so I was the one who had the current unit installed. About every 2>4 yrs we've had to replace the capacitor, which runs around $200>$250.
I'll be getting bids for a new AC unit in the the next few days. I'm leaning toward a 3 ton unit.
Then one year, it wasn't the cap, but the fan. That was something like $250 for a generic replacement fan, a $50 fan blade puller tool, plus 2 days for amazon shipping. After that, it ran for another 8 years without blowing a capacitor. A dying motor can greatly accelerate the wear rate on the capacitor.
If your 2.5 ton is doing a good job keeping your house cool, beware of going for a 3 ton. If it cools your house down "too quickly" then your house is cold without lowering the humidity, giving a clammy meat locker effect. Ideally, your a/c runs long enough to both cool the house and remove the moisture. But you also want it to have a little more cooling capacity than you normally need, so that it will still work when you have record-breaking heat, or have a lot of extra people in your house for a party. High-end variable speed units give you this ability to run at low for extended periods for dehumidifying but still surge lots of cooling capacity when you have extra high demand for cooling.
Statistics: Posted by random_walker_77 — Thu Jun 27, 2024 2:43 am
