AC Installation in Fort Smith, AR
A new air conditioner in Fort Smith will run from May through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Sebastian County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Five months of Fort Smith heat to plan for
From May through September your air conditioner is working most days, with summer afternoons averaging 91°F. That is the stretch that wears on a unit, and it is worth putting in one sized and installed to handle it.
Sebastian County also sees its share of hail and wind, 61 hail events and 122 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hailstones as large as 2.5 inches. A new unit installed here should be set up with that in mind. If you're installing new, any central air conditioner built since 2023 has to meet a 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
- 61 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 Sebastian 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, so it says the state has tested this contractor and keeps a record of them, and no city or county in Arkansas can add its own license on top of that.
For your installation, that state license is what stands behind the work. Beyond it, most cities and counties still require a permit for putting in a new air conditioner, with an inspection once the work is finished, so someone besides the installer checks the job.
Source: Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size depends on your square footage, your ceiling height, how much shade your house gets, and how well it holds cooled air, not just a number pulled from a chart. A unit that's too big cools the room fast but shuts off before it pulls the moisture out of the air, so the house feels clammy. Too small and it runs constantly all summer trying to keep up, especially with afternoons here hitting 91°F most days. A contractor will run a load calculation on your actual house before recommending a size.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your indoor coil and outdoor unit weren't installed together as a matched set, replacing just the outdoor unit can leave you with a mismatch that hurts efficiency and can shorten the life of both pieces. The indoor and outdoor units are engineered to work at specific pressures and airflow together. If your system is older, the refrigerant type may not even match what's available for a new outdoor unit. A contractor can check the age and condition of your indoor coil and tell you whether it's worth keeping or replacing alongside the outdoor unit.
- Do HVAC contractors in Fort Smith 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 it before any work starts on your system.