We’re only halfway through the summer and we’ve already received dozens and dozens of calls from people wanting to know how much it costs to replace the compressor in their central air conditioning unit. The straightforward answer is that it costs a lot more than you should spend repairing an old ac unit. Unless your air conditioner is new enough that the cost of both the parts and the labor to install the new compressor is covered under warranty - it’s almost always a bad idea to spend the money replacing the compressor. To have a well-known, reputable heating and air company in Denver replace your compressor is typically going to cost between $2,200 - $2,800. A handful of the biggest companies in Denver can charge more than $2,800. Keep in mind… the size of the company and the level of service they are structured to provide affects the price for any type of air conditioning repair. Spending $2,200 - $2,800 for a new compressor into an ac unit is pretty close to just lighting money on fire in my opinion.

That’s 1/2 the cost of replacing your entire air conditioning system (a new condenser and evaporative coil) and you still have an old air conditioner, it just has a new compressor in it. A good analogy would be putting a new transmission in a car that already has 200,000 miles on the engine. You can be pretty sure something else is going to go wrong with it before long. Most of the top air conditioner manufacturers back their units with a 10-Year Parts Warranty and a 1-Year Labor Warranty. However, some manufacturers only provide a 5-Year Parts Warranty. If the compressor in your air conditioner goes bad within the first 12 months, it’s a no-brainer - just call the company that installed it and you shouldn’t have to pay anything to have the compressor replaced. If your compressor goes bad sometime between the 2nd and 10th year after installation of your central air conditioner, the cost of the compressor itself can still be covered under warranty, but you will have to cover the cost of the labor to replace the compressor.

You can expect to pay a well-known, reputable Denver air conditioning contractor between $1,500 - $2,000 just for the labor. If your air conditioner if not more than 7-8 years old - and all the other components are in good shape, it may not be the worst financial decision in the world to replace your compressor if you only have to pay for the labor. Obviously individual financial circumstances have to be taken into consideration, and sometimes you have to choose the lesser of two evils. If you’re air conditioner is 10 years old then you would absolutely want to replace the entire air conditioning system instead of installing a new compressor. Air conditioning manufacturers typically do not honor warranty claims on equipment that has not been properly maintained or neglected. This is why it’s so important to have annual maintain performed on both your furnace and your air conditioner. Shameless Plug Alert: American Standard provides a 12-Year Warranty on the compressors inside their air conditioning units.

Full Disclosure: Altitude Comfort is an authorized American Standard dealer, and it’s our most popular brand by far. People often are confused by the technical names for the components of their air conditioning system, and they’ll refer to their outside unit (the condenser) as their compressor. Just so we’re all on the same page...ac motor control drive Condenser: This is the outside unit that everyone typically refers to as their air conditioner.ac outside unit fan not running Compressor: The compressor is a big component that sits inside your condenser (the outside unit). cost to replace outdoor ac unitWhat does the compressor do? In simple terms, an ac compressor circulates the refrigerant in your air conditioning system.

Your condenser fan motor is located usually on the top of the condenser or on the side of it. The condenser is located outside. If the fan is not blowing any air when the a/c is on, most likely your condenser fan motor is burnt out. However, if you do not hear any noise from your a/c you might have other issues like no power to the unit or you’re not getting signal to the condenser to turn on. When your condenser fan motor stops working it can be a couple of things causing that. 1) Your run capacitor is bad. The run capacitor gives the motor a jump start every time it starts.  The cost to replace a run capacitor for a condenser fan motor from an HVAC contractor can range from $150 to $275 depending on the size and the labor need to install the part. 2) The Condenser fan relay is bad.  New condensers have a relay they turn the motor on and off when the system starts and turns off. The cost to replace a condenser fan relay can range from $175 to $275 the cost depends more on the make and model of the unit and the contractor installing the part.

3) The condenser fan motor electrical winding are bad (burnt motor).  If the motor is burnt out your motor may be moving slowly, but not to full speed or dose not turn on at all. Always replace the motor with the same specifications that the original motor has. Replacing the motor without the same specs can cause higher utility cost and a shorter life span of the air conditioning system. Also replace the run capacitor when you replace the condenser fan motor. The average cost to replace the condenser fan more can range from $350 to $575. The cost depends more on the size of the condenser and the features of the motor. A high efficiency condenser may have a two stage motor that dive the cost up. There are many reasons your air conditioning compressor can fail. The biggest factors are poor installation of the condenser and lack of maintenance. If your compressor stops working you may not need to replace the compressor. Some of the components that can cause compressor failure are:

1) Over heating from a dirty Condenser coil or bad condenser fan motor. Wash your condenser with water and allow to cool down properly before starting system again. Check if your Condenser fan motor is working properly. 2) Low refrigerant in system. Running a compressor with low gas is like running a car with no water. Have your HVAC contractor check the refrigerant levels before he condemns the compressor. 3) Bad run capacitor to the compressor. Like the condenser fan motor the compressor needs a run capacitor to turn on and stay on. Sometime replacing the run capacitor can get your compressor to work again. Also adding a hard start to the compressor can turn it on too. A hard start is like a run capacitor however it gives it a little more juice to kick over.  A new compressor run capacitor can range from $250 to $350 depending on the size and air conditioning contractor. The cost to replace your air conditioning compressor can range from $1500 to $2400. There are a lot of variable that can bring the cost up and down.

The biggest cost factors are the size of the system and the labor needed to get it replaced properly. 4 out of 5 times it’s more economical to replace the system if it’s older than 10 years.  When having a HVAC contractor replaces your compressor. Make sure he practices these tasks: 1) Remove all gas from system properly. If they just release the refrigerant into the air. Stop them and call someone else. They and you can be fined for pollution from the EPA. 2)Have them replace the run capacitor to the compressor and electrical contactor that powers the system. A good contractor will know that compressor failure is caused by these two things and should avoid doubt that they are working properly. 3) Provide a new liquid line dryer. The dryer is a filter to the refrigerant system which catches all contaminates in the system and removes moisture from the refrigerant. 4) Provide a vacuum to the entire refrigerant system. Removing moisture from the air conditioning system insures your system has no or little contaminates in the refrigerant.