AC Installation in Ashland, VA
A new air conditioner in Ashland will run from June through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Hanover County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Four months of real heat to plan for
Summer afternoons in Ashland average 87°F, and that holds from June through September, four months a year. A new air conditioner has to carry that load the whole stretch, not just a few hot days.
Any new central air conditioner installed now has to meet 14.3 SEER2, the federal efficiency minimum. That is the baseline a new unit starts from, whatever size or brand you choose.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 87°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 13 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
Going above the federal minimum saves little here, about $20 a year.
Estimates for a typical Hanover County home, from EIA household energy data, Virginia fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Virginia requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license is issued to the contractor's business, not to any single job, so it stays in place from one installation to the next. Virginia does carve out an exception for small jobs. Work under $1,000 does not need a licensed contractor. An air conditioner installation runs well past that line, so the contractor doing this job is expected to hold the state license.
That license is what stands behind the work itself, but it is not the only check on an installation like this. In most cities and counties, replacing an air conditioner needs a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the work is done. That inspection is the part that catches whether the equipment was actually put in correctly, separate from whatever the license already covers.
Sources: Virginia General Assembly · Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- It depends on a load calculation, not the size of the unit you have now. A contractor measures your square footage, your windows, your insulation, and how much shade your house gets, then runs the numbers to find the right tonnage. An oversized unit cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the moisture out, so the house feels clammy. An undersized one runs constantly on your hot afternoons and still can't keep up. With summer highs here averaging 87°F, getting the size right matters more than guessing based on the old system.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- In most cases you replace both the outdoor unit and the indoor coil together. The two are matched to work at a certain efficiency, and pairing a new outdoor unit with an old coil usually means you lose the efficiency gain you paid for, sometimes voids the warranty too. A contractor can check the age and condition of your indoor coil and tell you whether it's a real option to keep it. If your system is old enough that the outdoor unit needs replacing, the coil is usually close behind it anyway.
- Do HVAC contractors in Ashland need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. Virginia requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license through the Board for Contractors, and installing an air conditioner is licensed work. The license covers the contractor, not each individual job, so it's worth confirming before work starts rather than after. Most cities and counties also require a permit and inspection for an AC installation, which is separate from the contractor's license.