Due to the fact that the bulk of the unit hangs out of your window and is exposed to the elements year round, window air conditioners have a greater tendency of breaking down when you need them cooling the most.  Now, being the air conditioner guy that I am, you would expect me to tell you to call out your local AC repairman because it is usually an easy fix.  However, with labor prices going up and up, and the price of window air conditioners coming down (about $300-$400 for a descent air conditioning unit) the right move may be to scrap the old junker and order up a new one, especially if your existing unit is outside of any manufacturer warranty period.

If you run the numbers and decide that buying a new unit is the thing to do, then here is a way to cut your costs even further.  DO NOT THROW YOUR OLD UNIT IN THE TRASH.  You need to take it down to your local scrap metal place and cash it in for around $50 worth of Copper Tubing that is inside of the unit.  You will get the most money form the scrap yard if you remove the copper from the unit yourself, otherwise they will factor their labor into the the overall value and reduce your take considerably. Another thing that I would advise is to call around to find out what they are paying for copper before hauling it down there and compare that to the price of copper on the open market.

Most scrap metal places will pay you cash on the spot.  Now you just cut $50 off he cost of your new unit.  Either that or you can just pocket the found money and not tell your spouse that I told you about it (-;

Case in point.  I’m out working on the lawn yesterday and one of my neighbors was out and we started chatting.  Being the air conditioner guy for the neighborhood, the conversations always tend to turn in that direction, so we were discussing our electricity bills and his was more than DOUBLE what mine was for about the same square footage.  Now, you just can not attribute all of your energy consumption issues to air conditioning, but I was interested in learning why he was experiencing such a disparity with his bill and if this is something that occured year round.

We compared our elecricity bills and his only showed the spike that was causing concern in the summer months even though he was running higher that me for the rest of the year also.  We then looked around his place and there were some very obvious problems with very cheap fixes.

• Insulation around the doors and windows were worn out.  You could feel the cool air flowing freely from around the closed doors and windows from the outside.  This can be remedied for less than $5 per door and window.
• The AC filter in the return duct looked like a giant dust ball.  He claims that he replaces the filter quarterly, but I doubt it.  Even if he did, quarterly is not enough in my opinion.  I replace mine monthly to insure that the air is flowing freely.  As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he is experiencing some freezing in his line because the AC unit is having to work overtime to compensate for the lack of air flow.  A simple $2 per month will save on a costly air conditioner service call if the line freezes over.
• Looking at the compressor on the side of the house, I see grass growing up into the coils on the bottom, hedge limbs poking into the coils on the side, and pine needles covering the casing on top.  He (and apparently a lot of home owners) don’t understand that the function of these coils is to channel the heat out of the home.  The fan blow air over the coils to cool them down and dispurse the heat.  That’s why when the unit is running and you put you hand over the top you feel hot air.  When the coils are obstructed, the air can not pass over them to get cool which means you are not efficiently pumping the heat out of your home.  Keep the coils clear and unobstructed.  In addition when you air conditioner is NOT RUNNING, take your garden hose and with low water pressure rinse off the coils of accumulated dirts and debris.  This wont cost you anything and will make a world of difference with your electricty bill.