I'm Andrew John, one of the owners of John’s Heating, Cooling, and Plumbing which is a 54 year-old family business. It's important to us to educate people and talk about the problems that we see folks get themselves into when they're not educated properly.

At John’s, we want you to be as informed as possible so you can make the best decisions for you and your family on anything that has to do with your heating and cooling needs. Here are the top 10 things you should know before buying a new A/C System.

#1 When is the best time to replace an air conditioning system?

The best time to replace your air conditioning system is obviously before it breaks. An AC system’s average life span is 10 to 12 years. Generally, we recommend people start thinking about replacement right before that time.

Additionally, if your system is less than 12 years old but it is experiencing issues, can't keep up with the heat, or giving you crazy high utility costs, it would be wise to look at a replacement.

#2 Will any AC cool my home?

Yes, all air conditioning units will blow hot or cold air. But are they really giving you the things that you're looking for for you and your family? Are they giving you options that you may even not know are available today? For example: Newer systems can help solve comfort issues like rooms that are too hot or too cold. Or they can help reduce indoor air quality issues to improve overall health and wellbeing.

Really, it's better to make a decision based on a discussion with a professional. The best news is we will come to your home for no cost to take a look at your system, evaluate your needs and go over your options. When we leave, you'll have all the information you need to make an informed choice.

#3 Should I base my system needs on the square footage of my home?

When most people get into a home, they really don’t have a choice about what type of air conditioning system was already installed in their house. The reality is; that unit is probably 10 to 12 years old. Lots of things have changed in the air conditioning world since it was installed.

Now, we have higher efficiency systems, improved comfort capabilities, and ways to help control your allergies and asthmas. So, there is a lot more to consider than the square footage of your home. The best thing is to sit down with a professional who can ask you questions to help lead you toward an end result that gives you everything you wanted.

#4 Should I go with the lowest priced AC?

You see two of the exact same car, one of them is $50,000 the other one's $20,000. For the most part, most people are going to go "Hey, what's wrong with the cheap one?"

Air conditioning is similar. It’s difficult to say which price range is right for you without knowing whether it's giving you everything that you want and everything that is going to be a benefit to you and your family. Often times we find that the ‘cheapest’ system available is not the best long term investment. You have to look at the total cost over the life of the system. How much it costs to get it installed is just the beginning. You also need to consider operating costs, repair costs over the years, and how long the system will last. A ‘cheap’ system that needs to be replaced in five years - may end up costing you more in the long run.

#5 Besides price, what other things should I consider before replacing my AC?

Look at it as a complete system in your home. This isn't a box that goes in and just blows hot or blows cold. The box is not just meant to make you comfortable. It's meant to improve your quality of life. It's meant to give you a certain level of energy savings based on what your future plans are, or what you're trying to accomplish with you and your family.

Consider comfort issues you have struggled with over the years and ask if a new system could solve them. Issues like too hot or too cold rooms can be addressed with the right design and system.

#6 Why do you recommend having an evaluation BEFORE selecting an AC system?

It's really important to have somebody come in and ask the right questions to lead you down the path that allows us to put a great system together for you. Our professionals don’t just ask you questions. They do an evaluation of your home, they look in the attic, they look through the home itself, and they make recommendations based on what they see and on the things that you tell them.

So at the end of the day what you're getting is exactly what you told us you wanted.

#7 What are the disadvantages of buying a system online?

You could say that there are some advantages and some disadvantages for buying a system online. The advantage is - it's easy. You don't have to deal with anybody, you just answer some questions and you get to a result.

The disadvantages; you don't know what that result is.

When you buy a new refrigerator or dishwasher, you don’t usually buy them online. You go down to the local store. You opened the doors, you listen to the experts in the appliances, you look at the lights inside, you look at different options within the same brand. You come to an end result by being able to look at it, understand what it does, and ask the professionals questions. Usually what you end up buying is not what you initially went in there to get.

Air Conditioning is kind of the same. If you don't have somebody that knows the questions to ask, most likely you're going to get something that just blows hot or blows cold and doesn't give you any other benefits or solve your comfort issues.

#8 Can I buy a system and install it myself?

Yes, you can. But there are some things to think about. The number one thing that controls the quality and longevity of your AC unit is the day it's installed. These are complicated pieces of equipment and the tools needed to install them are generally not what you're going to have sitting in your garage, so there's some complications there.

Ask yourself; "Have I done this before? Do I really know all the things that it takes to get this thing done right and install it properly?"

Consider all the steps that a professional takes because they know the important things to make that AC unit last as long as it can.

And then you have to think about things like warranties. If you install it, who is going to warranty it? Who is going to work on it? There's a lot more to the question other than 'Let me Google search it, order it online, get it delivered to my house, and just install it.'

#9 Warranties are through the manufacturer so does it matter who installs it?

Most manufacturers will only give you a warranty if a licensed contractor bought the unit and installed it. Unfortunately, if you look at the average air conditioning system, it has a 10-year warranty on all parts and generally somewhere between 1 to 3 years on the labor. And the labor part of it; only from a licensed contractor. You cannot get that from a manufacturer.

Warranties are getting very complicated. As an example, the manufacturers now have websites that you have to go to when you find a unit that's under a parts warranty. You have to check to make sure that it was actually registered by the installing contractor with an installation date, etc. And if you don't find that information in there, they most likely will deny the warranty.

Here at John’s Heating, Cooling, and Plumbing, we guarantee that any system or plumbing appliance purchased from and installed by our team of technicians will meet all manufacturer installation requirements and applicable uniform mechanical codes at the time of installation. Should it later be discovered that this was not the case, we will make required changes at no charge.

#10 Does a new system need maintenance services?

Think about maintenance for your car. No one buys a car and never changes the oil. It's just something that we do. Your air conditioning system is the same. It runs more than any other appliance in your home.

Arizona's Average temperature in July is over 110°. Let's think about how long your AC system runs and how much stress gets put on it. Things will break when they are stressed. That's why we do preventative maintenance. We want to prevent problems before they happen, reduce wear and tear on the system (to promote longer system life) and help keep utility costs in check. Our preventative maintenance plan makes keeping your systems properly maintained super easy and cost effective.