AC Installation in Alexandria, LA
A new air conditioner in Alexandria will run from April through October every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Rapides Parish will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Seven months of heat to plan for
Your air conditioner runs April through October here, seven months of the year. Summer afternoons average 92°F, and it has to hold that line day after day with barely a break before the next season starts.
Any new system installed today has to meet a federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2. That applies whether you are replacing what you have or adding cooling where there wasn't any.
- 7 months
- April through October, your air conditioner is on duty
- 92°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 29 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 Rapides Parish compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Rapides Parish home, from EIA household energy data, Louisiana fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Louisiana requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors tests and records the contractor. The license covers the contractor as a business, not each job they take on, so it applies here the same as it would on any other installation they do.
In most cities and counties, this installation also needs a permit from the local building office and an inspection once the work is done. That inspection checks that the unit was put in correctly. It is separate from the license and happens regardless of it.
Source: Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- It depends on more than square footage. A contractor works this out with a load calculation, which weighs your square footage against your insulation, window area, ceiling height, and how much shade your house gets. Alexandria summer afternoons average 92°F, and homes here need cooling April through October, so an undersized unit will run constantly and still not keep up. An oversized one cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the humidity down, so the house feels damp. Get the load calculation done rather than going by the size of the unit you had before.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- In most cases, replace both the outdoor unit and the indoor coil together. They are matched to work at a specific capacity and efficiency, and pairing a new outdoor unit with an old coil usually means you lose the efficiency gain you paid for, sometimes even voiding the manufacturer's warranty. If your furnace or air handler is old too, a contractor can tell you whether it's worth replacing now while the system is apart. If the indoor coil is already fairly new and in good shape, replacing just the outdoor unit can work, but have a contractor confirm the match before you decide.
- Do HVAC contractors in Alexandria need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. Louisiana requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license, issued through the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors. The license is held by the contractor, not issued job by job, so ask to see it before work starts. Installing a new air conditioner also typically needs a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the work is done.