AC Installation in Hammond, LA
A new air conditioner in Hammond will run from April through October every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Tangipahoa Parish will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Seven months of Hammond heat
Your air conditioner runs from April through October here, seven months of the year. Summer afternoons average 91°F, and on those days the unit you pick has to hold that line for hours at a stretch, day after day.
Hammond has also seen its share of hail and wind, fourteen hail events and forty-eight damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail up to 2.75 inches. An outdoor condenser sits exposed to that. If you're installing new, anything built since 2023 has to meet a federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2, so that part is settled. What matters most is sizing it right for a house that needs steady cooling most of the year.
- 7 months
- April through October, your air conditioner is on duty
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 14 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 Tangipahoa Parish compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Tangipahoa 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 licenses HVAC contractors in this state. That license belongs to the contractor, not to any one job, so the same license that covers this installation covers the next one they do.
For the installation itself, most cities and parishes in Louisiana also require a permit from the local building office before the work starts, with an inspection once it is done. That inspection is separate from the state license. It is the local building office checking the installation, not the board checking the contractor.
Source: Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- There's no single number that applies to every house. A contractor works this out with a load calculation, which looks at your square footage, insulation, window placement, ceiling height, and how much shade the house gets. Bigger isn't better here. An oversized unit cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the humidity out, so the house feels clammy even at the right temperature. With summer afternoons here averaging 91°F and cooling needed from April through October, getting this number right matters more than it would somewhere with a shorter season.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- In most cases you want to replace both the outdoor unit and the indoor coil together. They're matched to work at a specific efficiency and capacity, and pairing a new outdoor unit with an old coil usually means you lose the efficiency gain you're paying for, sometimes the manufacturer won't warranty the mismatch at all. If your indoor coil and ductwork are still in good shape and recent, a contractor can tell you whether they'll hold up with new outdoor equipment. Since any new central air conditioner installed now has to meet the 14.3 SEER2 federal minimum, that's also a point where an old coil often can't keep up.
- Do HVAC contractors in Hammond 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 belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so it's worth confirming before work starts rather than after. Installing an air conditioner also typically needs a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the work is finished.