When making the decision whether to repair or replace your HVAC unit, it’s a good idea to look at the age of the unit as well as the overall condition. Most HVAC units today have a useful life of 15-20 years as a general rule. So, if you’re unit is approaching that age range, you might want to reconsider investing in a major repair. Your trusted service contractor should be a great resource in helping to answer the repair vs. replace question based both age and service history of your unit.
So how do you figure out the age of your HVAC unit if you don’t have an awesome service contractor?
The answer is almost always on the manufacturer’s nameplate tag located on the unit itself. Sometimes it’s simply listed as “manufacture date” on the nameplate. Kudos to the manufacturers who provide that. We salute you.
Most often the date is hidden within the serial number of the unit. Each manufacturer has their own system for coding this date, and at times, it can seem like unraveling the Da Vinci Code to try to figure it out.
This is why I did a little happy dance when I found this website: http://building-center.org/
This site provides the cipher to figure out each manufacturer’s code. Simply click on the button for “Determining the Age of HVAC equipment” and search by the letter of the manufacturer that you need. No more waiting on hold for your manufacturer to unlock the mystery for you, you can crack the code on your own!