Repair or Replace Your HVAC System?
A 60-second, no-pressure way to see whether fixing or replacing your furnace, AC, heat pump, or boiler is the smarter move for your Des Moines home — based on the numbers, not a sales pitch.
Repair-or-Replace Calculator
Should I repair or replace my furnace or AC?
The fastest gut check is the $5,000 rule: multiply your system’s age in years by the cost of its most recent repair. If the result is around $5,000 or more — or the unit is past its average service life — replacement usually saves money over the next few years. Below that, a repair often still makes sense. In Des Moines, IA, a system that struggles through a summer heat wave or a deep-winter cold snap is also a strong signal to plan ahead.
Replacement is usually the smarter spend
The math points to a new system saving you money and headaches over the next few years.
- Age x last repair cost is about $7,200, at or above the $5,000 rule of thumb for replacement.
- At 12 years it is near the end of the ~14-year average service life.
- Occasional repairs are normal as a system ages, but they add up — track the trend.
Common misconception
“It is always cheaper to repair.” Not when repairs stack up. A 15-year-old system limping through an Iowa summer can cost more in back-to-back repairs and high energy use than a new, efficient unit would over the same span — and an R-22 AC leak alone can rival the price of replacement.