AC Installation in Tallahassee, FL
A new air conditioner in Tallahassee will run from April through October every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Leon County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
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Seven months of Tallahassee heat, and the storms that come with it
Your air conditioner runs April through October here, seven months a year, with summer afternoons averaging 91°F. That is most of the year spent cycling to keep a house cool, and it puts real hours on the compressor before the season even turns.
Leon County has logged 473 damaging wind events and 15 hail events over the past ten years, with hailstones up to 2 inches. A new unit needs to be installed to hold up outside through that. If your new system was built after 2023, it has to meet a federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2, so it starts out efficient by law. How it performs after that comes down to the install.
- 7 months
- April through October, your air conditioner is on duty
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 15 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 Leon County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Leon 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 is issued to the contractor by the Construction Industry Licensing Board, and it covers that person or company, not the specific job at your house. The board tested them before handing it out and keeps a record of who holds one.
For an air conditioner installation in Leon County, that license is what stands behind the person doing the work. In most cities and counties, a job like this also needs a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the installation is done.
Sources: Florida Legislature · Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation
- 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. There is no number to give without looking at the house. A contractor works this out with a load calculation, not a chart based on square footage alone. Going too big causes its own problem. An oversized unit cools the air fast then shuts off before it pulls the moisture out, so the house feels damp even at the right temperature. With summer highs around 91°F here and cooling needed from April through October, getting this right matters more than in a place with a short cooling season.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- In most cases, both the outdoor and indoor units should be replaced together. Air conditioners are matched at the factory for a specific pairing of coil and compressor. Putting a new outdoor unit against an old indoor coil can leave you with less cooling and less efficiency than either part is rated for. Age matters too. If the indoor coil is old enough that the outdoor unit is failing, the coil is usually not far behind it. A contractor can look at both and tell you whether the indoor coil is still in good enough shape to keep.
- Do HVAC contractors in Tallahassee need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. Florida requires anyone doing HVAC work to hold a state license, issued by the Construction Industry Licensing Board. Ask to see the license number before work starts. You can look it up with the board to confirm it's current.