AC Installation in Benton, AR
A new air conditioner in Benton will run from May through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Saline County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Five months of Benton summer heat, every year
Your air conditioner in Benton works May through September, with summer afternoons averaging 90°F. That is five months of steady run time, not just a few hot weeks.
Benton has also seen 67 hail events and 70 damaging wind events over the past ten years, so the outdoor unit needs to hold up outside as well as cool the house. Any new central air conditioner installed today has to meet the federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 90°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 67 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 Saline County home, from EIA household energy data, Arkansas fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Arkansas requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license belongs to the contractor, not to this one job, and Arkansas is the only one testing and keeping that record. Cities and counties in Saline County cannot layer on a license of their own, so the state's is the one that applies here.
For an air conditioner install, that license is what stands behind the person doing the work. It does not replace the permit and inspection the local building office does for this kind of job in most places, which checks the installation itself once it is done.
Source: Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size comes from a load calculation, not a rule of thumb. A contractor measures your square footage, your windows, your insulation, and your ceiling height, then works out how much heat your house gains on a 90 degree afternoon. An oversized unit cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the moisture out, so the house feels damp. An undersized one runs nonstop all summer and still can't keep up. Ask the contractor to walk you through the calculation for your house rather than just matching the old unit's size.
- 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 specific efficiency and capacity, and pairing a new outdoor unit with an old indoor coil usually means you lose the efficiency gain you're paying for. It can also void the manufacturer's warranty. A contractor can check your indoor coil's condition and age and tell you whether it's a candidate to keep.
- Do HVAC contractors in Benton need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. Arkansas requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license to do this work. Ask to see the license number before any work starts, and confirm it's current.