AC Installation in Fort Lauderdale, FL
Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Broward County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Your AC runs here every month of the year
In Fort Lauderdale, cooling season doesn't end. Homes here need the AC running 12 months a year, through summer afternoons that average 91°F. There's no spring or fall stretch where the system gets a break.
Any new central air conditioner installed today has to meet a federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2. That's the baseline. With a system that runs all year, how well it's sized and installed matters more than it would somewhere the AC gets months off.
- 91°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
A higher-efficiency unit would save about $40 a year to run in Broward County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Broward County home, from EIA household energy data, Florida fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Florida requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Construction Industry Licensing Board issues that license after the contractor is tested, and it keeps a record of who holds one. The license belongs to the contractor, not to any one job, so it covers the person doing the work rather than this particular installation.
For this job, that means the person putting in your air conditioner should hold that state license. Most cities and counties also require a permit for an installation like this, with an inspection once the work is done, so that check on the job itself usually comes from the local building office rather than the state.
Sources: Florida Legislature · Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- There's no single number that fits every house. It depends on the square footage, how many windows you have and which way they face, how much insulation is in the attic, and how many people live there. A contractor works this out with a load calculation, not a tape measure and a guess. Since cooling runs here all year, getting the size right matters more than in places where the system rests for months at a time. Too big and it cools the air fast but never runs long enough to pull the humidity out. Too small and it runs constantly on the hottest afternoons and still can't keep up.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- In most cases, replace both together. The outdoor condenser and the indoor coil are matched to work at a specific efficiency and capacity, and pairing a new condenser with an old coil usually means the system never reaches the rating it was built for. It can also void the warranty on the new unit. If your indoor coil is old, it may not hold up under the pressure and refrigerant of a new outdoor unit either. A contractor can look at the age and condition of what you have and tell you whether the coil is worth keeping.
- Do HVAC contractors in Fort Lauderdale need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. Florida requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license, issued by the Construction Industry Licensing Board. Before you hire anyone, ask for the license number and check it against the board's records. This work involves refrigerant, electrical connections, and equipment that has to be sized and installed correctly to hold up through a full year of cooling, so the license isn't just paperwork.