Old AC Scrap Price: What Decides the Value of a Window or Split AC

Short answer: the old AC scrap price is not a fixed number. A buyer looks at what is inside the unit: copper or aluminium coils, the compressor, the steel body and the copper piping, plus whether the AC still works. A complete split AC with its outdoor unit and copper coils is worth noticeably more than a window AC with an aluminium coil or a stripped unit. If you plan to sell old items before Diwali, send photos of both units and the model sticker, and you’ll get a quote before anyone comes.

Old AC scrap price: how it’s worked out

An old air conditioner is priced on two things: what its metal is worth, and whether anyone can use it again. For a dead or very old unit, the metal decides almost everything. For a working unit, the resale value can be higher than the metal.

Inside every AC are the same main parts:

• Coils (condenser and evaporator). Tubes that carry the refrigerant, with thin aluminium fins. Older ACs mostly have copper tubes; many newer ones use aluminium tubes.
• Compressor. The heavy, sealed black cylinder. It has a copper-wound motor inside a steel shell.
• Copper piping. In a split AC, the pipes that connect the indoor and outdoor units.
• Body, fan motors and PCB. Steel or plastic cabinet, small fan motors (more copper) and the control board, which is e-waste.

Copper is the most valuable metal in an AC by a long way. On 27 October 2026, our live scrap rates page listed copper at ₹1,244.05/kg and aluminium at ₹201.73/kg (both updated 26 October). That gap is why the coil type matters so much. You can check what a known weight of copper is worth with the copper rate calculator.

Sources: National Recycling live scrap rates (viewed 27 October 2026; rates for clean, sorted metal); Cooling Post, “Concern over high AC refill rates in India”, 17 September 2025, reporting an iFOREST survey of 3,100+ households in seven cities.

Those are metal rates, not AC prices. An AC is never paid as if it were solid copper. The buyer estimates how much copper, aluminium and steel are in your particular unit, and that’s why two “1.5 ton ACs” can get different quotes.

Window AC vs split AC: what’s different for a scrap buyer

A window AC is one box: compressor, both coils and the fan all sit in one cabinet. A split AC has an indoor unit (evaporator coil, blower, PCB) and an outdoor unit (compressor, condenser coil, fan), joined by copper piping.

For scrap value, this means:

• A complete split AC has more metal than a window AC of the same tonnage, mainly because of the extra piping and the larger outdoor coil.
• The outdoor unit carries most of the value. An indoor unit on its own is mostly plastic, a small coil and a fan. If the outdoor unit is missing, the price drops sharply.
• Window ACs are simpler to collect. Once out of the wall, it’s one unit to carry.

Copper or aluminium coil: how to check yours

This is the single biggest question in pricing an old AC, and you can usually answer it yourself:

1. Look at the bends. At the side of the coil, the tubes loop back in U-shaped bends. Copper bends are reddish-brown or dark brown. Aluminium bends are silver-grey.
2. Check the model sticker or manual. Many brands list “copper condenser” or “100% copper” on the box, sticker or spec sheet. Inverter ACs from the last few years are more likely to have aluminium or mixed coils.
3. Look at the joints. Copper coils often show brazed joints with a golden colour. Aluminium coils usually look uniformly silver.

The fins themselves are almost always aluminium in both cases, so don’t judge by the fins. Take one clear photo of the coil bends and send it with your quote request.

This short video by Tushar Draweria takes an old AC apart and weighs what comes out, so you can see where the copper actually is:

Video: Tushar Draweria, “Cutting Old AC in Scrap – Profit OR Loss?”.

Working, dead or stripped: what changes the price

Working ACs

If the AC cools properly, it may be worth more than its metal, because it can be serviced and used again. Older ACs often run on R-22 gas, which India is phasing out, so a very old working window AC is usually priced closer to scrap than a newer inverter split. Be honest about condition when you ask for a quote; it avoids surprises at pickup.

Dead ACs

A dead AC is still worth selling. It’s priced on its metal and parts: compressor, coils, piping, body and motors. A dead compressor doesn’t make the AC worthless; the copper winding inside is still there.

Stripped or incomplete ACs

This is where most of the value is lost. Common problems:

• The technician kept the copper pipes when the AC was uninstalled. Ask for them; they’re part of your AC.
• The compressor was removed or swapped for a dead one during an old repair.
• Only the indoor unit is left because the outdoor unit was sold separately or stolen from the ledge.

Keep the remote, the stand and both units together. The old appliances pickup page notes the same thing: the outdoor unit and remote add to the value.

Why an old AC shouldn’t go to an unknown dismantler

An AC is not just metal. The refrigerant gas inside it, and the PCB, are the reasons air conditioners are covered under India’s e-waste rules. Down To Earth points out that domestic ACs fall under extended producer responsibility, but that India still has no uniform system for recovering refrigerant at end of life:

“Improper disposal of the appliances makes them extremely hazardous.”Shrotik Bose, Down To Earth, 30 May 2025

The same report notes that older ACs commonly use R-22, which damages the ozone layer and has a global warming potential of 1,810; India banned its import in 2020 and plans to phase it out fully by 2030. Newer split ACs often use R-410A or R-32. When a roadside dismantler cuts the pipes to get at the copper, that gas goes straight into the air.

AC gas is also a big part of everyday AC running costs. An iFOREST study reported by Cooling Post found that about 40% of home ACs in India are refilled every year, and that “servicing is now synonymous with refrigerant refilling in India”. If your old unit needs a top-up every summer, that is often a sign it’s time to replace it rather than keep paying for gas.

At National Recycling, appliances go to government-authorised recyclers, and you get a certificate for every pickup.

This Hindi video by Rizwan Saifi shows how much copper actually comes out of an AC radiator (coil) when it’s opened up:

Video: Rizwan Saifi, “AC Radiator Scarp se kitna copper nikalega | Live Recovery” (Hindi).

Getting a better price for your old AC

• Send good photos: both units from the front and back, the coil bends, and the model sticker (it shows tonnage and often the gas type).
• Say whether it works. If it was cooling when you switched it off, say so.
• Keep the copper pipes and remote with the AC.
• Get it uninstalled first. We collect split ACs that are already uninstalled. If yours is still on the wall, tell us and we’ll advise.
• Sell it with everything else. An old fridge, cooler, TV or brass and copper utensils can go in the same pickup, and a dead laptop or phone can go too with the data wiped or destroyed; see old phones and laptops.

Customers tell us the easy part is not having to carry anything:

“Doorstep pick up of the e-waste and its disposal was easy and proper.”Komal, Google review of National Recycling

How to sell an old AC in Mumbai or Thane

1. Send photos on WhatsApp of both units, the coil and the model sticker, with your area. We reply with an estimate before we come.
2. Pick a slot. Book by 4 November for a pickup before Dhanteras (Friday, 6 November). Lakshmi Puja is on Sunday, 8 November 2026.
3. We carry it down from any floor, including buildings without a lift.
4. Checked and paid in front of you. Cash or UPI before we leave, with a certificate for every pickup.

If you’re clearing the whole house, our Diwali cleaning guide covers what to sell, recycle or throw room by room, and yesterday’s post on old brass utensils price explains how metal utensils are weighed and paid. Everything we pick up this season is on the Diwali scrap pickup page.

Clearing old newspapers and boxes too? Our guide to the raddi rate per kg in Mumbai explains how paper is priced and how to get more for it.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• National Recycling: live scrap rates (copper, aluminium, brass)
• Down To Earth: For India, cooling is now a necessity. Its choice of refrigerant will impact progress on climate goals (30 May 2025)
• Cooling Post: Concern over high AC refill rates in India (17 September 2025)
• Tushar Draweria: Cutting Old AC in Scrap – Profit OR Loss? (video)
• Rizwan Saifi: AC Radiator Scrap se kitna copper nikalega (video)