AC Installation in Conway, AR
A new air conditioner in Conway will run from May through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Faulkner County will get in touch.
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Five months of Conway heat, and hail to go with it
Conway summers average 91°F for five months, May through September. A new air conditioner installed here needs to be sized and installed right to keep up with that stretch, not just get through a hot week here and there.
The outdoor unit sits outside through whatever the sky sends. Faulkner County has logged 64 hail events over the past ten years, with stones as large as 2.75 inches, and 90 damaging wind events in that same period. Any new system going in should be able to take that. If the home is new construction, the condenser also has to meet the federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 64 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 $10 a year.
Estimates for a typical Faulkner 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 is held by the contractor, not issued job by job, and Arkansas is the only one setting that rule here. Counties and cities in the state cannot layer their own HVAC license requirement on top of it, so the license that matters is the same one wherever in Faulkner County the work happens.
For an air conditioner installation, that license tells you the contractor was tested and is on record with the state. It does not stand in for the local permit and inspection that this kind of job typically needs, where the building office checks the installation once it is done. That inspection is what confirms the work was done right, separate from whatever the license already covers.
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 based on square footage. A contractor looks at your insulation, your windows, your ceiling height, and how much shade your house gets in the afternoon. Summers here push into the low 90s, so an undersized unit will run constantly and still not keep up, while an oversized one cools the air fast without pulling out the humidity. Either mistake costs you comfort, so have someone measure the house rather than guess.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your indoor coil and outdoor unit were installed together and matched for size and refrigerant, replacing only the outdoor unit can cause problems. A mismatched system often runs less efficiently and can wear out sooner, since the two parts are designed to work as a pair. A contractor can check the age and condition of the indoor coil and tell you whether it can pair with new equipment or needs to go too. With hail and wind as common here as they are, it is also worth having them check the coil and line set for damage while they are at it.
- Do HVAC contractors in Conway 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 before any work starts, and confirm it is current.