AC Installation in Mobile, AL
A new air conditioner in Mobile will run from April through October every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Mobile County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Seven months of Mobile heat, on one system
Your air conditioner runs April through October here, seven months a year, with summer afternoons averaging 91°F. That is most of the year spent cooling, not just a few weeks of it. A new system has to hold up under that kind of run time, not just cool the house on the hottest day.
Any central air conditioner installed new has to meet a federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2. That is the floor, not a feature, so it is worth asking what the unit going into your home is actually rated at.
- 7 months
- April through October, your air conditioner is on duty
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 26 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 Mobile County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Mobile 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 Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Contractors issues that license, and it tested the contractor before granting it. The license covers the contractor, not the job itself, so it applies to this installation the same way it applies to any job that contractor takes on.
With the license comes the inspection most cities and counties require for a job like this. Installing an air conditioner usually calls for a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the work is done. That inspection checks what was actually installed, separate from the license the contractor already holds.
Source: Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- There is no single answer without a proper load calculation. A contractor figures this out by looking at your square footage, insulation, window placement, and layout, not just the size of the house. Get this wrong and you end up with a unit that either short cycles because it is too big or runs constantly without cooling the house because it is too small. With summers here running 91°F on average and cooling season stretching from April through October, that calculation matters more than it would somewhere milder.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- In most cases, replacing just the outdoor unit is not a good idea. The outdoor and indoor units are matched to work together, and pairing a new outdoor unit with an old indoor coil usually means losing efficiency and shortening the life of the new equipment. A contractor can check whether your existing indoor coil and ductwork can actually pair with newer equipment. If the system is old enough that the outdoor unit is failing, the indoor components are often close behind it.
- Do HVAC contractors in Mobile 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. Before hiring anyone, it is worth asking to see their license number and confirming it is current.