AC Installation in Cabot, AR
A new air conditioner in Cabot will run from May through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Lonoke County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
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Five months of 90 degree afternoons ask a lot of a new system
Cabot runs its air conditioner May through September. That is five months of summer afternoons averaging 90°F, and the unit you install this year needs to handle all five without a break in the routine.
Lonoke County has also seen 54 hail events and 80 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail up to 3 inches recorded. Whatever goes in outside has to sit through that kind of weather and keep running. Any new central air conditioner installed today also has to meet the federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2, so the unit going in is already built to handle a long cooling season more efficiently than what it may be replacing.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 90°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 54 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 Lonoke 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.
Arkansas tests HVAC contractors before handing out a license, and it keeps a record of who holds one. That license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so it tells you this contractor met the state's standard before they ever showed up at your house. Counties and cities, including those in Lonoke County, can't layer their own HVAC license on top of it, so the state license is the credential that applies here.
For an air conditioner installation, the license covers the contractor. It doesn't cover the job itself. In most cities and counties, installing a new air conditioner needs a permit from the local building office and an inspection once the work is done, and that's what checks whether this particular installation was done right.
Source: Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size depends on your square footage, how much shade and sun your walls and windows get, your insulation, and the layout of your ductwork. There's no shortcut using square footage alone, since two homes the same size can need different tonnage. A contractor will run a load calculation on your house and size the unit to match. Going bigger than you need isn't a safety margin, it actually makes the unit cool the air fast without pulling enough moisture out, so the room feels clammy.
- 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, so pairing a new outdoor unit with an old coil usually means you lose the efficiency gain you're paying for, and some manufacturers won't warranty the mismatch. If your indoor coil is still young and in good shape, tell the contractor and ask them to check whether it can be reused. Age and condition of the coil, not just the outdoor unit, should drive that call.
- Do HVAC contractors in Cabot need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. Arkansas requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license, so ask to see it before any work starts on your system.