Repair your air conditioner if it is under 12 years old and the fault is electrical — a capacitor, a contactor, a control board — because those are $150–$800 fixes on a machine with years left. Replace it if it runs on R-22, if the compressor has failed, or if a refrigerant leak has been chased more than once. Most AC repairs in the GTA run $150 to $800, and a new central system with existing ducts lands at $3,500–$7,500.
The quick rule: multiply the repair quote by the unit's age
Take the number on the repair quote and multiply it by the age of the condenser in years. If the product is over about $5,000, the money belongs in a replacement. A $400 contactor and capacitor job on a 6-year-old unit scores 2,400 — repair without hesitating. The same $400 on an 18-year-old condenser scores 7,200, and you would be putting good money into a machine whose compressor is next.
The age comes off the data plate on the condenser, usually encoded in the serial number, and a technician can read it in seconds. Central air in Canada typically gives 12 to 15 years — the detail is in how long an air conditioner lasts here.
What AC repairs cost in the GTA
- Diagnostic visit: $90–$150, usually credited toward the repair if you proceed
- Capacitor replacement: $150–$350 — the single most common AC repair, and a fast one
- Contactor replacement: $150–$350 — the relay that switches the condenser on; pitted contacts cause no-starts
- Condenser or blower fan motor: $300–$700, depending on the motor type
- Control board replacement: $400–$800, common on newer units with electronic boards
- Refrigerant leak repair and recharge: $300–$800+ — finding and sealing the leak costs more than the refrigerant
Notice what is not on that list: the compressor. A compressor replacement on an out-of-warranty residential condenser is close enough to the price of a new unit that it is rarely the right call, and the new unit comes with a fresh warranty and a modern coil. The full breakdown sits in what AC repair costs in the GTA.
When repair is clearly the right call
Under 12 years, on R-410A, with a single electrical component at fault and no history of leaks — repair, every time. These are the calls that end in one visit because the part is on the truck. The same is true of a blocked condensate drain, a dirty condenser coil, or a thermostat that has lost its wiring.
Repair also wins when the indoor coil and the furnace are newer than the condenser and were installed as a matched set. Replacing the outdoor unit alone in that situation forces a coil change too, which turns a repair decision into a system decision.
Six signs the air conditioner is finished
- It runs on R-22. Production and import of R-22 ended in Canada, so a top-up now means reclaimed refrigerant at whatever the market asks.
- The compressor has failed, is drawing locked-rotor amps, or has gone to ground.
- The same leak has been recharged twice. Refrigerant is not consumed — if it is low again, it went somewhere.
- The condenser coil is corroded through. Units within a few metres of a salted arterial or the QEW service roads lose fins and tube walls first.
- It cannot hold the house on a humid day even after a coil clean and a filter change, and the sizing was right to begin with.
- Repairs have come in two consecutive summers, with a third quoted before July.
Free quotes, written pricing.
R-22, R-410A and the A2L switch
Refrigerant is the fact that most often decides this question in Toronto. R-22 systems — anything installed before roughly 2010 — cannot be topped up cheaply and cannot be converted by pouring something else in. The oil, the metering device and the compressor were designed around that refrigerant.
You can check which one you have without a technician. The rating plate on the side of the outdoor unit names the refrigerant and the factory charge weight, and the manufacture date is encoded in the serial number just above it. Photograph that plate before you call anyone — it answers the age question and the refrigerant question in one go.
New residential equipment has now moved again, from R-410A to the mildly flammable A2L refrigerants R-32 and R-454B. That does not make your R-410A system obsolete, and R-410A service gas remains available. It does mean a new condenser cannot be paired with an old indoor coil across the refrigerant change, so replacement today means a matched system — condenser, coil and often the line set. The A2L refrigerant guide explains what changes for homeowners.
Repair or replace, compared on what matters
- Cash today — repair $150–$800; replacement $3,500–$7,500 with ducts already in place
- Downtime — repair is usually one visit; a replacement is most of a day
- What it buys — repair keeps the current SEER2 and the current refrigerant; replacement resets the clock, drops the running cost and moves you onto a current refrigerant
- Humidity control — a repair does nothing for it; a variable-speed replacement runs longer at lower capacity and pulls far more moisture out of the air
- Risk — a repaired 15-year-old condenser can still fail in August; a new one carries a parts warranty through its first decade
Should you do the furnace at the same time?
If the furnace is also past 12, price them together. A combined furnace and air conditioner replacement typically runs $7,500–$11,500 and saves $1,000–$2,500 against two separate jobs, because one crew mobilization covers the sheet metal, the electrical hookup, the gas connection and a single permit cycle.
There is a technical reason as well as a financial one. The indoor coil sits on top of the furnace and the blower has to move the right airflow across it, so replacing both at once means the two are matched by design rather than by luck — the trade-offs are in whether to replace the furnace and AC together.
The verdict
- Under 12 years, electrical fault, R-410A — repair
- Twelve to 15 years, repair under $500, no leak history — repair, and start collecting replacement quotes in the off-season
- Any age on R-22 — replace
- Failed compressor out of warranty — replace
- Second leak on the same circuit — replace
- Furnace also past 12 — replace both in one visit
ZK Mechanical quotes both options in the same visit for air conditioning repair and installation across Toronto and the wider GTA, with written pricing before any work starts. If you want to know what a replacement would actually cost for your house before you decide on a repair, our GTA AC installation cost guide has the ranges, and you can book an assessment at a time that suits you.
Frequently asked questions
Is it worth repairing a 15-year-old air conditioner?
Rarely, and the arithmetic explains why: a $500 repair on a 15-year-old condenser scores 7,500 on the age-times-cost rule, which is well past the point where replacement wins. There is one exception worth naming — a cheap electrical part on a unit that has otherwise been faultless and gets you through the last weeks of a summer while you organise quotes properly in September.
Can I replace just the outdoor unit?
Only when the indoor coil is compatible with the new condenser, which across a refrigerant change it will not be. New residential equipment is shipping on A2L refrigerants, so pairing a new outdoor unit with an older R-410A coil is not something a licensed installer can do. Matching a mismatched set also costs you the rated efficiency you paid for, which is why replacements are quoted as systems.
How much does a new central AC cost in the GTA?
A new central air conditioner in a home that already has ductwork in good condition runs $3,500–$7,500 installed, covering the condenser, a matched indoor coil, the line set where it needs replacing, the electrical connection and the removal of the old unit. Doing the furnace at the same time typically lands at $7,500–$11,500 for the pair, which is $1,000–$2,500 less than two separate installations.
My AC still cools but the house feels clammy. Repair or replace?
Start with diagnosis rather than either. Clammy air with adequate cooling usually points to an oversized unit that satisfies the thermostat before it has run long enough to dehumidify, a blower speed set too high, or leaky return ducts pulling in humid basement air. If the unit is correctly sized and none of those apply, a variable-speed replacement is the fix — it runs long and slow, which is what removes moisture.