AC Installation in Alabaster, AL
A new air conditioner in Alabaster will run from May through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Shelby County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
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Five months of Alabaster heat, every year
Your air conditioner works from May through September here, with summer afternoons averaging 90°F. That is five straight months of the compressor running most days, and a new system has to hold up to that stretch every single year.
If you're installing a new central air conditioner, it has to meet a federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2. That's the baseline for efficiency now, not an upgrade you have to ask for.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 90°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 18 hail events
- in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
- 13.4 SEER2
- the federal minimum any new unit must meet
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A higher-efficiency unit would save about $30 a year to run in Shelby County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Shelby County home, from EIA household energy data, Alabama fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Alabama requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The state license comes from the Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Contractors. It covers the contractor, not the individual job, so it tells you the person taking on your install has been tested and is on record with the state. Every contractor doing this work in Alabama has to hold it.
For an air conditioner installation, that license is what stands behind the work itself. On top of it, most cities and counties in Alabama require a permit from the local building office before the job starts, and an inspection once it's done. That inspection is a second check on the install, separate from the state license, and it's the part that confirms the work was done right after the fact.
Source: Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size comes from a load calculation, not the square footage of your house alone. A contractor looks at your insulation, your windows, your ductwork, and how much shade your house gets before landing on a number. Going bigger than what the calculation says is not a safety margin, it is a problem. An oversized unit cools the air fast then shuts off before it pulls the humidity out of the room, so the house feels damp even though the thermostat says it is cold.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- In most cases both the outdoor unit and the indoor coil need to be replaced together. They are matched to work at a specific efficiency and capacity, and pairing a new outdoor unit with an old indoor coil usually means the system never runs the way it was designed to. There are exceptions depending on the age and condition of what you already have, so a contractor looking at your actual equipment can tell you whether a partial replacement makes sense for your house.
- Do HVAC contractors in Alabaster need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. Alabama requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license, issued by the Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Contractors. Ask to see the license number before work starts, and you can check it against the board's records if you want to confirm it before the job begins.