Lone Star Cooling and Heating
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Call (325) 219-0005Replacing a worn-out or failed air conditioner, or adding central cooling for the first time, with the system sized from a load calculation of the building and the indoor and outdoor equipment chosen to work as a matched pair.
01AC replacement
Replacement starts from different places, and the starting point shapes how much of the system changes.
The most expensive parts of a cooling system are the compressor and the coils. When one of them fails on a system that is no longer new, putting the money toward new equipment is often the sounder choice, and the replacement is planned around the building rather than the old unit.
One repair a season is ordinary. A string of them, on top of rising electric bills and weaker cooling, usually means the system as a whole is wearing out. Replacing it ahead of the next breakdown lets the choice be made calmly rather than in a heat wave.
R-22 is no longer produced, so every leak on an older system draws on a shrinking supply. A new system uses a current refrigerant, which means the outdoor unit and the indoor coil are replaced together.
A house that has always felt clammy, or where the far rooms never cool, may have a system that was sized by guesswork. Replacement is the chance to size it properly and to check the ducts that carry its air.
A building heated by a furnace with ducts can often take central cooling: a coil on the furnace, an outdoor unit and copper lines between them. Whether the existing ducts and blower can carry cooling airflow is the first question.
02How much to replace
A split system is two halves that have to agree with each other. That decides how much of it is replaced.
This can work when the indoor coil is fairly new, sound, uses the same refrigerant and is listed by the manufacturer as a match for the new outdoor unit. When any of those is missing, the pair may never reach its rated capacity or efficiency, and the old coil can fail soon after.
The outdoor unit and indoor coil are chosen as a tested combination, and the furnace or air handler whose blower moves the air is checked too. This is the usual answer when the old system is older, uses a refrigerant no longer produced, or when the coil has started to leak.
AC Installation & Replacement
Serving Abilene, TX.
03Sizing
Bigger is not better with cooling equipment. The size that fits the building is the one that performs best in it.
A load calculation adds up where the building gains heat in summer: sun through each window, heat through walls and the roof, outside air leaking in, and the people and appliances inside. The result is the cooling the building needs on a typical hot day for its area, and the equipment is chosen to meet that figure rather than to beat it.
An oversized system cools the air fast and shuts off before it has pulled much moisture out, so rooms feel cold and damp at once, and the frequent starts add wear. An undersized one runs without pause and falls behind on hot afternoons. Both problems are built in on installation day, which is why the calculation is worth doing before any equipment is chosen.
04Types of system
All three cool the building. They differ in how they deliver that cooling through the day.
The compressor is either fully on or off. It is the simplest design with the fewest parts, and it suits many buildings well, though its short, full-power cycles remove less moisture on mild, humid days.
The system spends most of its time on a lower setting and steps up to full output only on the hottest days. Longer, gentler cycles keep temperatures steadier, pull out more humidity and make less noise.
The compressor adjusts its output across a wide range to match the load minute by minute, giving the most even temperature and humidity control. It relies on more electronics and often on a matching thermostat or control, which a technician confirms before it is chosen.
05Efficiency ratings
The rating on the label is a useful comparison. It is not a promise about a particular building.
Cooling equipment carries a seasonal efficiency rating, shown as SEER or its updated version, SEER2. A higher number means the equipment moves the same heat with less electricity under standard test conditions. Whether stepping up a level pays back depends on how many hours a year the system cools, what electricity costs locally and how long the building will stay with its current owner.
The rating also assumes the equipment is installed as tested. A system with the wrong refrigerant charge, too little air across the coil or ducts leaking into a hot attic can fall well short of its label. A carefully installed mid-range system often outperforms a premium one that was rushed.
06Installation
Much of what decides how a new system performs happens out of sight, on installation day.
The old refrigerant is recovered, not vented. Whether the existing copper lines can stay depends on their size, condition and the refrigerant they carried. New joints are brazed with nitrogen flowing through the pipe so no scale forms inside.
The finished circuit is pressure tested for leaks, then pulled into a deep vacuum to remove air and moisture. The charge is set and confirmed from pressures and line temperatures with the system running, not left at whatever the unit shipped with.
The blower is set for the new coil, and the ducts, filter and returns are checked to make sure they can carry the airflow the equipment needs. New equipment on ducts that choke it will not deliver what it was sized for.
The outdoor unit sits level with clearance for air to move around it, on a correctly sized electrical supply with a disconnect nearby. Indoors, the condensate drain is trapped and routed, with overflow protection where the coil sits above living space.
07Questions
From a load calculation. It accounts for the insulation, the windows and the way they face, air leakage, the local climate and how the rooms are used. Square footage alone misses most of that, and copying the old unit repeats any mistake made when it was installed.
Usually. The two are designed to work together, and published efficiency ratings apply to specific tested pairs. An old coil may use a different refrigerant or metering device, or be close to leaking itself. Only a coil listed as compatible and in sound condition is worth keeping.
Not always. A higher rating saves the most where cooling runs many hours a year and electricity is expensive. In a mild climate, or a building that will change hands soon, a middle rating may make more sense. Leaky ducts or a poor installation can also erase much of the difference.
What the system is doing, when it started, what the thermostat is set to and what it reads, and whether the outdoor unit is running. The age of the equipment and a photo of its label help a technician arrive prepared.
Lone Star Cooling and Heating
Call Lone Star Cooling and Heating, have us call you, or describe the issue.
Prefer to talk?
Call (325) 219-0005