Short answer
Repair usually wins early in a system's life when a serviceable part fails. Replacement usually wins when the equipment is past three-quarters of its typical service life, when the failure is in the core of the machine, not an accessory part, or when unplanned repairs have become a pattern across consecutive seasons rather than a single event.
This tool weighs age, failure type and repair history together the way a technician does, instead of treating any one of them as the answer on its own, and it deliberately does not produce a price, since a believable figure would need to know things a form cannot ask: access, the specific part, what else is found once a panel comes off, and what venting or electrical work a replacement would trigger. What it gives you instead is what a good proposal has to contain, and the single most useful thing to insist on: ask for both options priced on the same visit, repair and replacement, each with the parts and scope written out.
The short answer
Timing matters most. The tool below weighs those together.
| Factor | Favors repair | Favors replacement |
|---|---|---|
| Age vs. typical service life | Early in its life | Past three-quarters of typical life |
| What failed | A serviceable accessory part | The core of the machine |
| Repair history | First unplanned repair | A pattern across consecutive seasons |
Why this does not give you a price
Because any price it gave you would be invented. What a repair or a replacement costs at your building depends on access, the specific part, what else is found once a panel comes off, what venting or electrical work the replacement triggers, and what is actually available that week. A calculator that produces a confident dollar figure from four dropdowns is producing a number, not an estimate, and you will discover the difference when the real quote arrives.
What can be done honestly is weigh the decision factors and tell you what a good proposal has to contain. That is below.
The one thing to insist on before you repair or replace
Ask for two numbers, not one. A technician who will only quote one has not given you a decision to make, and the two numbers together are the only way to see whether the repair is buying you years or months.
Common questions
Does this send my answers anywhere?
No. Your browser handles everything, with no network request and nothing stored. Disconnect from the internet entirely and it still works.
Why does it not estimate cost?
Because a believable number would require knowing things a form cannot ask: access, the specific part, what venting or electrical work a replacement triggers, and local availability. A confident figure from four dropdowns would be misleading, not helpful.
How accurate are the lifespans it uses?
They are the typical service-life figures used in the trade, and they are a starting point, not a verdict. Water quality, maintenance history and how hard the system has worked all move the real number, which is exactly why the tool weighs them alongside age rather than using age alone.
It says replace, but my technician says repair. Who is right?
The technician, most likely: they can see the equipment and this cannot. Use the result to ask better questions: what is the expected remaining life after this repair, and what would replacement cost today? If those two answers are close, the decision usually makes itself.