[Rob Hood]

Just need some info/guidance on "maintenance" versus upgrades. Once of our AC units quit last night and I had the company come out today to diagnose/repair. They are just under 5 years old and we are the original owners.

[Rob Hood]

The tech said we needed a start capacitor, which was not installed by the original AC company at the time of building. The tech said the original companies have been doing that to reduce costs on their end. He installed another run capacitor because the one installed in May was bulging. He said the run capacitor should normally last 4-6 years.

The electric bill is one of those "managed plans" where you work up a debt, then pay it off in the off-season. Our average isn't bad so I'm not too concerned about that; I'm just frustrated that every time the AC company comes out I end up spending money. I contacted some neighbors and most have not touched their units, and they are 2 years older. The ones who have had maintenance done have not had as much as we have. We've had the run capacitors replaced on both units before as well.