AC Installation in Tampa, FL
A new air conditioner in Tampa will run from March through November every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Hillsborough County will get in touch.
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Nine months of cooling puts real hours on a new system
Your air conditioner runs from March through November here, nine months a year, with summer afternoons averaging 91°F. That is nine months of the compressor cycling on and off to hold the house at temperature, not a short burst of hard use in the hottest weeks.
Over the past ten years this area has seen 13 hail events and 63 damaging wind events, so a new outdoor unit sits outside in more than heat. Any central air conditioner installed new here has to meet the federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2, and sizing it right for nine months of run time matters as much as the rating on the label.
- 9 months
- March through November, your air conditioner is on duty
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 13 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 Hillsborough County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Hillsborough 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 belongs to the contractor, not to this one job. It is issued by the state's Construction Industry Licensing Board, and it covers the contractor's work wherever they take it, including here in Hillsborough County.
For an air conditioner install, that license is what stands behind the contractor doing the work. The county still has its own part in it. Most cities and counties in Florida require a permit for an air conditioner installation, and an inspection once it is in, separate from anything the state licensing board does. The permit and inspection are the local record that the equipment went in correctly at this address.
Sources: Florida Legislature · Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- It depends on your square footage, how much sun your walls and windows take on, your insulation, and how many people are usually home. A contractor works this out with a load calculation, not a chart based on house size alone. In Tampa that calculation matters more than in milder places, since your system runs from March through November and an undersized or oversized unit will struggle or short cycle through all nine of those months. Get a contractor to run the numbers for your actual house rather than going by what the last house had.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your indoor coil and outdoor unit were installed together, replacing just the outdoor unit usually means mismatching it with an old coil, and that hurts efficiency and can shorten the life of the new equipment. Manufacturers match coils and condensers as a set for a reason. If your system is old enough that the outdoor unit is failing, the indoor coil is likely close behind it. A contractor can look at the age and condition of both and tell you whether a full replacement or a partial one makes sense for your house.
- Do HVAC contractors in Tampa 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. Ask to see the license number before work starts, and you can check it against the board's records if you want to confirm it yourself.