Well, it got to be in the 90s a few weeks ago in Chicagoland, and my air conditioner froze. Specifically, the A-frame evaporater unit turned into a block of ice preventing air flow, and thus, preventing cooling. A/c guys come out and proclaim that the evaporator leaks, lost freon and thats why it froze. Cost to replace? $1000! I called a few other shops and asked for prices and they were a grand too. I am in the wrong business!

Also, they really wanted me to go ahead and spend $3000 to just replace the whole ac unit since the current one was from 1992. That is a lot of money to me right now. I really don't have it in my budget.
Pros: New A/C is far more efficient, and brand new.
Cons: $3000 vs $1000 to repair old one. Repaired unit may still fail for some other reason later.

What would you do? I am leaning toward the repair rather than the replacement for this summer's budget reasons.

Me personally, I'd go with the replacement. I had the exact same thing happen 2 weeks ago during a family party at the house. The evap froze over. Talked to my friend who does HVAC for a living and told me the exact same thing. I'd be better off replacing the old A/C unit too. So with him telling me the replacement would be a better choice, I'm trusting him.

Get a new one. Didn't a big limb from your willow tree fall on it during the last thunderstorm? That's covered on homeowners insurance.....

As a matter of fact I just had AC problems, got it fixed for $70...lol it was low on freon or whatever, they topped it off and it works fine.

I really thought I had major probs but I lucked out I guess. My AC unit is from 1996

Who did you hire to fix it? I like they way they work.

So I got frustrated and upened up an access hole in the ductwork to inspect the evaporator coil. I was told not to use the downstairs unit (until they cleaned it for $305.00) because the coil was so clogged and dirty it was bound to freeze up. I found that it was perfectly clean. No sign of dirt or debris or dust or cloggs - just perfectly clean. In the other unit it was the same. No evidence of leaking, but I would not know what to look for. But if they lied to milk me out of an extra 300 bucks, I am not wanting to trust them regarding the need to replace the other coil for a grand. I have decided to go with Tex and see what happens. They did add 2 cans of freon to the "leaky" unit and it works fine now. If it dies this summer, I will do some homework before I replace it.

I have used Beery Heat and Cool in Naperville for 10 years and like/trust them. With a name like BEERy, what's not to like...?

http://www.4heatcool.com/

They service my AC and replaced my furnace.

Glenn's Refrigeration out of Bolingbrook. He's a friend of the family to my Uncle Steve's family. Sorry I don't have his number on me but I can post it when I get home. He's a stand up guy, even came out when it was convienent for me (Friday 6pm)

Thanks fellas!

mike watch them while they work if you can. If they replace any thing they need to vaccum the system then add the coolant. most places will put a wax type hardner over the charge point to make sure its sealed tight. on hot days you will see frost on the cold line going to the house. as long as the hot line comming back is hot you know the flow in not obstructed. for cleaning coils use a pump type sprayer and get some coil cleaner from lowes or grainger. let me know if tex;s guy cant make it for some reason. Ive worked on large industrial units and can atleast find your prob or tell you if the repair man is full of it.

that happened to our house last year stuff froze up and quit working. it was some board that was fried

Here is Glenn's number, he's real easy to get along with. 630-427-9129

I live in an apartment and we have CA. Ours freezes up about every 30 days due to a leak. I call, they come out and fill it, it's good again for another 30 days.

Except the last time they came out, they put in some sort of sealant (or so I'm told). I'll find out in about 15 days if it helped.

The maintenance guy (landlords son-in-law) is upset at the fact that the landlord won't let him fix it right. He does HVAC for a living. He's had a sniffer here to see where the leak is and it's not in the evaporator or condenser, it's in the plumbing in the wall somewhere...