AC Installation in Jacksonville, FL
A new air conditioner in Jacksonville will run from April through October every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Duval County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Seven months of cooling in Jacksonville heat
Your air conditioner runs from April through October here, seven months a year. Summer afternoons average 91°F, and the unit you install has to hold that load day after day without a break most other parts of the country get.
Duval County also sees hail and wind. Over the last ten years the area has recorded 69 hail events and 303 damaging wind events, with hailstones as large as 2.75 inches. Outdoor equipment sits exposed to that. If you're installing new, federal rules now set a minimum efficiency of 14.3 SEER2, so any new central air conditioner has to meet that standard.
- 7 months
- April through October, your air conditioner is on duty
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 69 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 $30 a year to run in Duval County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Duval 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 license comes from the Construction Industry Licensing Board, and it covers the contractor, not this one job. It stays attached to whoever holds it, before this installation and after it.
For an air conditioner installation in Duval County, that license is what stands behind the person doing the work. In most cities and counties, an installation like this also needs a permit from the local building office, and an inspection once it is done. The permit and inspection cover the finished work. The license covers the contractor.
Sources: Florida Legislature · Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size depends on your home's square footage, insulation, window placement, and layout, so there's no number to give without looking at the house. A unit that's too big cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the humidity down, so rooms feel damp. One that's too small runs constantly and still can't keep up on a 91°F afternoon. A contractor works this out with a load calculation, not a guess based on the size of the old unit.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If the indoor and outdoor units were installed together and are close in age, replacing just the outdoor unit usually isn't the better move. The two are matched to work at a certain capacity and airflow, and pairing a new condenser with an old coil can mean the system never runs at the efficiency it's rated for. Age matters too. A coil that's near the end of its life will likely fail soon after, so you'd be paying for two installs instead of one. A contractor can check whether your indoor coil is compatible with newer refrigerant and efficiency standards before deciding.'
- Do HVAC contractors in Jacksonville 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 hiring anyone, ask for their license number and check it against the board's records.