How old is your unit? Is it Puron or R22? If you are in warranty, you will probably still have to pay labor and you can wind up chasing a leak with a little here, a little more there, That may be a toss up and depend on things like cash flow or financing options, but if it is an R22 system I'd say everything favors replacement even so. But even labor costs add up. Our system was Puron, so we didn't have that issue. The larger unit had a compressor fail at 4 years and again at 6 years. I was told after the new units were installed that we could have expected the compressor to fail about every 2 years after the initial replacement. That "warranty repair" of just that one part could have cost us $4000. The coil in the other system had been replaced and the coil in the larger unit was pretty rusty when they took it out. That was not going to be under warranty. Pretty soon, you got these parts and those parts and you wind up with chicken nuggets in your AC system, especially if you started with Goodman or Amana. I just replaced two 6 year old Amana units after spending money on "warranty"repairs -- one of which was botched and forced the replacement of that system. We decided to do the other so we could fix things that were original tot he house at the same time. I went from shock and anger to being really happy to be rid of all that garbage. I saw what the inside of those 6 yr old units looked like -- we were in for more repairs or a replacement on the other unity in the near future. The Amana units are not well made, do not last and the company does not stand behind the product. The customer service sucks. Don't even expect a reply. They are just a time killer. The pros can address the tech and efficiency issues, but I can tell you that I paid good money to have my Amana hauled out and couldn't be happier. I'd replace. If finances were an issue, I'd get a portable and start saving my money and looking for a good off season deal from a reputable dealer and installer. Peace of mind is a good thing.

I'd probably replace it too depending on how much the repair would cost. But I will say that we have a 1997 basic Kenmore/Whirlpool top freezer that we intended to replace when we remodeled our kitchen three years ago. We kept it because we couldn't make up our minds on which new model to get (and wanted to postpone the cost--turned out to be the perfect decision, because the almost-what-we-wanted model we were planning to buy was just updated this summer to be exactly-what-we-wanted!) That thing is still going strong, and we used a Kill-o-Watt to measure its energy use and were surprised to see that it is actually competitive with what we'd be replacing it with (though we will be going to a slightly larger refrigerator, which accounts for some of that difference). So that's just to say--you might well get a number of years out of it yet if it's a cheap fix, and it might not be the energy hog you think it is, depending on the model. (You can actually look this up for many models in the link below; most refrigerators will also become less efficient as they age, though surprisingly our readings were on par with the original readings for our model.) It may be worth at least getting an estimate on the repair. Here is a link that might be useful: Energy Use by Model

100% agree that replacing the compressor isn't wise but for reasons that may suprise you. Appliance repairmen often misdiagnos freezers and fridges. Refrigeration is a trade within itself and to be competent it's nessary to work in a single sub-category such as commercial hvac,residential hvac,commercial refrigeration,residential refrigeration,rv/off grid refrigeration or even more specialized segiments. Ditto for laundry equipment,dishwashers and small appliances. For 3 years I worked with a trade school in aquireing dead units for students to train on. I had 2 men delivering new and picking up old appliances for retail stores. The drivers were trained to get reason for replacement when possible and record on a tag attached to old appliance. More than 75% of fridges,freezers,dehumidifyers and window units were misdiagnosed where breakdown was reason for replacment. So you get the double whammy if the problem is misdiagnosed and the same bozo atempts repairs. For benifit of those still reading,a few words regarding cabinets surrounding a fridge. The cabinet serves to disipate heat generated by compressor. While fridge is running,lay your palm on sides and top to feel the heat.. At minium you should be able to put your fist between fridge and cabinet,both sides and top. If air circulation is restricted compressor runs longer and hotter which waste's energy and kills the appliance. If the sides and top arn't hot while unit runs,there is either a grid of pipe and fins on back or a small fan cooled one underneath. Both require free air circulation and need brushed off or vacumed before getting covered with lint and dust. So why don't home builders leave more space? Don't know but suspect consumers think it looks bad. Tomorrow's subject will be "more than you ever wanted to know about your can opener".

Terry Flynn-did you have to move the electrical and water lines when switching over from the Viking to the Samsung? I have replaced the fan in my Viking (circa 2006, but not plugged in until 2010) and the freezer still too warm but now the alarm goes off every 15 to 24 hours. I can’t get a good estimate or diagnosis of the problem other than “maybe a slow leak” and “it will cost thousands to replace.” Living where I do, I am at the mercy of one repair company. Getting up at 3 am to turn an alarm off is getting old. Had planned to let it just operate to it’s death, but it would be nice to know if it could be repaired and last awhile longer. Otherwise looking at a counter depth Bosch with some rework of the cabinetry and as I said, electrical and plumbing. That alone will be close to $5000 and if I could repair this one with some guarantees…..oy