AC Installation in Houma, LA
A new air conditioner in Houma will run from April through October every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Terrebonne Parish will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
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Seven months of cooling asks a lot of a new system
Your air conditioner runs from April through October here, seven months of the year, with summer afternoons averaging 90°F. That is close to two-thirds of the year spent cycling on and off to hold the house against that heat.
Terrebonne Parish has also seen 10 hail events and 28 damaging wind events over the past ten years, so the outdoor unit needs a cabinet and coil that can take a hit and keep running. Any new central air conditioner installed today has to meet the federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2, and sizing it right for a season this long matters as much as the rating on the label.
- 7 months
- April through October, your air conditioner is on duty
- 90°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 10 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 Terrebonne Parish compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Terrebonne 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 state tested this contractor before handing out that license, and the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors keeps a record of who holds one. The license belongs to the contractor, not to this one job, so it stands behind every installation they do, not just yours.
For the air conditioner itself, that license is what backs the work, but Terrebonne Parish still has its own check. Most cities and counties require a permit for a new air conditioner and an inspection once it's in, and that inspection is what confirms the install was done right, separate from anything the state license covers.
Source: Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size depends on your home's square footage, ceiling height, insulation, window placement, and how much shade it gets, not just a chart that matches tonnage to square feet. A contractor works this out with a load calculation, which looks at your whole house rather than guessing off a rule of thumb. An oversized unit cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the humidity out of the house. Undersized, and it runs nonstop on the hottest days and still can't keep up. Either way, the fix is the same. Get the load calculation done for your house specifically.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- In most cases you replace both the outdoor unit and the indoor coil together. The two are matched to work at a specific efficiency and capacity. Pairing a new outdoor unit with an old coil usually means you lose the efficiency you paid for, sometimes voids the manufacturer's warranty, and can shorten the life of the new equipment. If your indoor coil is old, a contractor may also point out that refrigerant type has changed over the years, so an old coil might not even be compatible with new equipment. The exception is when the coil is genuinely new and matches what's going in, which a contractor can check when they look at the system.
- Do HVAC contractors in Houma 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. That license covers the contractor, not the individual job. It's worth confirming before work starts rather than after. Beyond the state license, installing a new air conditioner in most cities and counties also needs a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the work is done.