AC Installation in Prattville, AL
A new air conditioner in Prattville will run from May through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Autauga County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Five months of real heat, every year
From May through September your air conditioner is either running or about to be. Summer afternoons here average 91°F, and that's the kind of heat that leans on a system for months at a stretch rather than a few scattered weeks.
Any new unit installed today has to meet a federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2, so the baseline efficiency is already set. What matters after that is sizing it right for your house and getting it installed so it can handle a five-month cooling season without strain.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 5 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 Autauga County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Autauga 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 license comes from the Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Contractors, and it belongs to the contractor, not to any single job. The board tested that contractor and keeps a record of them before they ever touch your unit.
For an installation, that license is what stands behind the work itself. Alongside it, most cities and counties in Alabama require a permit for a new air conditioner, with an inspection once the job is done, so someone outside the contractor also looks at the finished work.
Source: Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- There is no answer to that without looking at your house. Square footage matters, but so does how much shade your walls get, how many windows face west, how much insulation is in your attic, and how tight your ductwork is. A unit that is too big will cool the air fast but shut off before it pulls the humidity down, so the house feels damp even at the right temperature. A contractor will run a load calculation on the actual house to get the size right.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- In most cases the outdoor unit and the indoor coil need to match. They are built to work together, and pairing an old coil with a new outdoor unit often means you lose efficiency and sometimes the manufacturer warranty. If your indoor coil is old too, replacing both at once tends to make more sense than replacing one now and the other later. A contractor can look at what you have and tell you whether the coil is worth keeping.
- Do HVAC contractors in Prattville 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.