AC Installation in Aberdeen, WA
Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Grays Harbor County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Aberdeen doesn't ask much of an air conditioner
Summer afternoons in Aberdeen average 71°F. That's mild enough that a lot of homes here get by without cooling at all, and the ones that install it aren't fighting the kind of heat that runs a system hard all summer.
A new central air conditioner installed here still has to meet the federal efficiency minimum of 13.4 SEER2. That standard is the same everywhere, but in a climate this mild, the system you install spends most of the year barely called on.
- 71°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 13.4 SEER2
- the federal minimum any new unit must meet
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Going above the federal minimum saves little here, about $10 a year.
Estimates for a typical Grays Harbor County home, from EIA household energy data, Washington fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Washington requires contractors to register with the state.
Registration puts a contractor's business on file with the Department of Labor and Industries. There is no trade exam behind that number and no state license. It tells you the business is on record, not that the state has checked how well they install an air conditioner.
With no license standing behind the work, the check on an installation like this comes from the local building office. Most cities and counties require a permit to install an air conditioner, and an inspector looks at the finished work before it's signed off.
Source: Washington State Legislature
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- A contractor has to work this out with a load calculation, not a chart based on square footage. That calculation looks at your insulation, your windows, how many walls face the sun, and the layout of your ductwork. An oversized unit cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the moisture out, so the house feels clammy. An undersized one runs constantly and still can't keep up on the hottest afternoon. Summer afternoons in Aberdeen average around 71°F, and homes here need cooling zero months a year, so a lot of houses end up needing less capacity than the same house would in a hotter climate. That's one more reason to have someone measure the house rather than guess.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your furnace or air handler is old too, replacing just the outdoor unit usually causes problems. The indoor and outdoor units are matched to work together, and pairing a new condenser with an old coil often means you lose efficiency and sometimes voids the warranty on the new equipment. If the indoor unit is newer and in good shape, a contractor can check whether it's still compatible with a new outdoor unit. That depends on the age and condition of what you already have, so it's worth having someone look at the actual equipment before deciding.
- Do HVAC contractors in Aberdeen need a state license to work on my home?
- Washington doesn't license HVAC contractors through a trade exam. What the state requires is registration with the Department of Labor and Industries, which is a business record, not a test of skill. You can look up any contractor's registration status before hiring them. Separately, installing an air conditioner in Aberdeen needs a permit from the local building office, and the work gets inspected once it's done.