Which GJer has the oldest A/C unit at their house?

[HoosierBuddy]

I'll start.

Fired off the A/C unit yesterday for the first time this spring.

She turns 25 later this summer. I should pour a beer on her. She's old enough to drink it after all.

Phil

 

[Corndoggeh]

Looking at homes I found a home built in 93 with the original AC still running and cooling the house. I think the previous owners got their moneya worth out of it.

 

[240sxguy]

1993.

 

[budget76]

just replaced a start capacitor at the rental house, 1991 tag on the unit. I know it's on borrowed time

my house may be similar, not sure how old

 

[HAP]

1995 Janitrol 3.5 Ton. I moved from my house to the shop.

R,
HAP

 

[grant00]

My parents still have their dual zone system from 1991 when the house was built in northern California. They know it's on borrowed time but it just keeps going.

Now if you want to compare furnaces only, our house last year in San Diego still had the original 1974 natural gas furnace.

 

[mrobins297aaa]

2000

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[wrenchguy]

Built 85, first used AC in 86. Dayton 3 ton. Never a problem, nock on wood.

 

[MikeF2316]

Mine was installed in the spring of '95. I've only ever washed dirt out of it. I've been thinking of replacing it for a few years, one year I even got a quote.

 

[Bronson]

I installed my own unit, Cumberland furnace with A-coil and outdoor Trane condensing unit, in 1993, I have never had to add any R-22 to the unit and it PURRS.
Now, to knock on wood......

 

[DrinkMan]

1991 Trane heat pump. When we bought the house in 2001, we budgeted replacement. When it broke a year later, we were fully prepared for the service company to tell us to replacement. They found the issue, repaired it and told us that everything was fine. Every year, that company comes out, checks it out and confirms no freon needed and it is fine.

I'm a big fan of heat pumps now. On other houses, I've had to replace A/C units after only 10 years. The longest A/C with gas furnace I've ever had last is 18 years.

 

[Todd.Brock]

Mine was from 1987 when I replaced it in 2019. Hard to stop a Trane, lol


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[exranger06]

The data label inside says it was manufactured in 1988. I just finished installing that Wiremold outlet a few months ago. Before that, I had to use an extension cord to use it! How stupid is that? This one is in my finished basement. I had an identical unit in my master bedroom, also made in 1988, but it died last year. I've got a fancy new programmable WiFi unit in there now.

 

[Viper98912]

In my parents' old house, theirs was from either the late 80's or early 90's. It would freeze over all the time (and in south florida, so it ran year-round). Finally the motor or something went out (with no replacements of course) but more importantly as they were taking it apart to diagnose it basically just started to disintegrate by itself.

When they replaced it, they saw a drop in their electricity bill of $250-300 a month (mind you, this was only a 2,200 sq ft house). That old unit was so incredibly inefficient compared to today's units; if they had known, they would have done it earlier as the energy savings alone would have so quickly paid for itself.

 

[leadfoot415]

Still running the bryant 2 ton unit that came with my house; estimate age from 2002 or close based on date label.

 

[Krfjkm]

I highly recommend not answering— the older units can hear you— [emoji6]

I remember looking at our old unit and thinking “Man, that thing is running strong and it is easily 20+ years old...”

It broke the next day—-




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[mrobins297aaa]

hahaha, I think your right, were all jinked

 

[TTMotorsports]

My house in phoenix which lives off the ac for 9 months out of the year both units were new when house was built in 2000. One unit last year stopped blowing cold and needed the refridgerant recharged. Of course it's old stuff that is way more expensive than the new stuff which would have been $125 it was $450 but better than sleeping in guest bedroom since that side of the house AC worked good still and saved use about $200 a month in electrcity after fixing it as well.

 

[ROBZ71LM7]

My house which I sold last year had a 1993 Lennox furnace and A/C. Never had any issues.

 

[HoosierBuddy]

Built 85, first used AC in 86. Dayton 3 ton. Never a problem, nock on wood.

Looks like wrenchguy is the winner!

I agree with the above comment about having an old unit is a mixed blessing as the modern ones are going to be much cheaper to operate. My HVAC guy (a grizzled old straight shooter) tells me I need to hang onto my existing one, despite the inefficiency, because a new one has more service needs and won't last as long.

Obviously that's just his opinion....but it is an INFORMED opinion....so I have taken his advice. I'll run my 25 year old unit until it dies.

Phil

 

[CoogarXR]

There was an old motor cycle / bicycle shop near me that had an old blue-and-chrome window unit, had to be from the 1950s or early 60s still running. I think they went out of business though.

 

[Steve W.]

Now if you want to compare furnaces only, our house last year in San Diego still had the original 1974 natural gas furnace.

We don't have central air (yet), so will have to stick with the furnace-only comparison.

Our unit was 'old' when we moved in in 1994. I have no reason to belive that it has been replaced since the house was built in 1957.

The only repair work that has been done was a new blower, probably about '97 or '98.

Hope to replace it late this year or early next year, when I finish all the re-wiring and insulation in the house.

.

 

[grounded-b]

Bought my house in '92. AC unit looks to be from the early 80's. Whirlpool condensing unit, 2 ton, R-22. Still cooling. Bought a 10 lb jug of of R-22 to top her off every 2-3 years if needed

Steve

 

[metlmunchr]

My dad built his house in 1961. Being in the hvac business, he had his men install a carrier oil furnace and 3 ton carrier condensing unit which used R-500 refrigerant ( a mix of R12 and R22 developed by Carrier).

In 2003 a natural gas line was installed on his street. At that time he installed a new gas furnace, coil, and 3 ton condensing unit after removing the still operational oil furnace and condensing unit from 61.

That said, I'd strongly disagree with the idea of keeping a system from the 80's on the theory that it'll be more reliable than a new system. In the mid 80's, a EER of 7 was common. Current base level units start with a minimum EER of 14. IOW, the current unit will deliver the same cooling while using half the electricity of the unit from the 80's.

The decision to keep or replace an old but functional system comes down to expected payback time. Most people have a month or so in the spring and fall when little heat or cooling is necessary. Comparing power bills from those periods to ones from the cooling season gives a fairly accurate estimate of your current cooling costs. If cutting those costs by half would recover the cost of a new system in 5 years or less, it's a pretty decent investment. The longer the payback period past 5 years, the less attractive replacement becomes.

In general, going to a system with higher EER will increase the length of the payback time, but that's also dependent on electric rates in the person's area. All done, someone in an area with a high cooling load and high power rates might have a 3 yr payback while the same system installed in a low cooling load and low electric rate area couldn't project payback in 10 years. The former should replace tomorrow if the money's there, but the latter would be smart to run what he's got until it croaks.

 

[jjrbus]

Unit was 23 years old when I sold last house in FL. EPA and energy mandates have forced manufactures to use thinner copper so the new units are not going to last decades. Be lucky to get 10 years out of cheaper units or so I have read.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I have an old Carrier package unit on the roof at work. I worked on it as an apprentice in the 80's. Still humming along.

Tommy

 

[Gila Monster]

I had a rental property I owned, General Electric Weathertron from about 1981. Was still working in Southwest where summers are in 110. Replaced because of weather damage around 2012, insurance company willing to pay for a new one so it was replaced, but was still pumping ice cold AC and no leaks until it was replaced.

I guess GE sold the division to Trane, but they don't make stuff like that anymore.

 

[karoc]

I just had mine replace this past summer, I am the one who installed mine back in the late 80's. Mine was still running when took it out of service, I just got tired of worrying if this is the summer that it does go out. So I had it replace.

 

[Azmule71]

My house Built in 77,
has two packaged units both 3 ton, Labeled Amana ID tag is 1978 on both.

 

[KevinL]

1989

 

[Chapter21]

I have a rental house with the original 1986 heat pump. When I bought it the home inspector said he takes no responsibility for that old thing. Not only does it still work great, in this climate, it is needed at least 300+ days per year, AND this house has literally zero insulation. This thing has been working HARD! Even still has the original 1980s plastic wood grain thermostat filled with mercury.

Yet, when it cranks up, it's much quieter than the 2014 model I have at my house!

I think the water heater is from '86 too. Hold on, I need to find some wood to knock before I post this...

 

[wanderer]

I have a rental property (four Plex) with one original ac. Built in 1984. We replaced the furnaces a few years back and did the a coil then….still running the old compressor.

 

[Chapter21]

It really makes an enormous difference where you are at. When I lived in the NW, many people didn't have A/C, those that did, use it maybe 2-3 months a year. Even then it isn't working very hard, night always dipped into the 50s and 60s and little humidity.

Now I live in NC...and the A/C is pumping at least 6 months of the year, all day and night, working it's *** off. Even at 3AM it's not unusual for it to be 75 and 99% humidity outside.

I don't have any data to back this up, but my suspicion is A/C lasts a lot longer in the north half of the country than the south...

 

[billt460]

It really makes an enormous difference where you are at. When I lived in the NW, many people didn't have A/C, those that did, use it maybe 2-3 months a year. Even then it isn't working very hard, night always dipped into the 50s and 60s and little humidity.

Now I live in NC...and the A/C is pumping at least 6 months of the year, all day and night, working it's *** off. Even at 3AM it's not unusual for it to be 75 and 99% humidity outside.

I don't have any data to back this up, but my suspicion is A/C lasts a lot longer in the north half of the country than the south...

This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Longevity of A/C and furnaces depends solely on location. A gas furnace in San Diego, California is obviously going to last a whole lot longer than one in Fargo, North Dakota. Same with air conditioners. A unit in Northern Wisconsin is going to last far longer than the same unit in Palm Springs, California or Lake Havasu City, Arizona.

 

[glend123]

Mine was 24 years old when I sold my house in 2019. the buyers wanted me to replace it but there was nothing wrong with it so I refused.

 

[DL7265]

This is like the ppl with 30 year old fridge in the garage costing $300 a month to operate .


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[JamesW84]

This is like the ppl with 30 year old fridge in the garage costing $300 a month to operate .


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Guys around here like the old stuff. I started a thread about a cheap broken fridge I bought to try to fix to save 1000 kw per year. I got **** on for 3 pages. They ended up being right though. I got too scared to put a compressor in it and potentially waste money, so I sold it for about a $300 loss. My current unit is probably about 30 years old and uses around 1600 kw/yr. Actually I'll throw my Kill-A-Watt meter on it and track it for 6 months. I've got one on the portable dehumidifer...wow.

My AC condenser looks to be the original from 1978. The A Coil was replaced in I believe 2004. I had a tech out 2 years ago to shoot in some leak-seal and add some refrigerant. Hopefully it'll work this fall.

I plan to DIY install a Mitsubishi Multi Position ducted heat pump this fall.

 

[bigdav160]

When I bought my house in Dec 2007 it still had the original "Day and Night" company condensers/evaporators from 1970. Pretty impressive being on the Texas gulf coast and running 11 months out of the year. I never turned them on and elected to replace them first thing.

 

[Nick Danger]

My house has a swamp cooler from the mid 1990s. That's not old for a swamp cooler. The only moving parts are a water pump and a motor driving a fan.

 

[billt460]

My house has a swamp cooler from the mid 1990s. That's not old for a swamp cooler. The only moving parts are a water pump and a motor driving a fan.

It's not old if it was maintained properly. Even if it was the media should be replaced every 2 to 3 years. Or else it will become permeated with calcium, and not absorb water.