Washington HVAC Help
Overhead view of a gray residential air conditioning condenser unit mounted on a concrete pad beside a house with asphalt shingle roofing.

AC Installation in Bremerton, WA

Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Kitsap County will get in touch.

Tell us about the job

It takes about a minute.

Step 1 of 3: Equipment
Overhead view of an outdoor AC condenser unit on a concrete pad next to a house with a dark shingle roof.

Bremerton summers don't ask much of an air conditioner

Summer afternoons here average 74 degrees. That's mild, and it means a new system spends most of its life barely working. The load on your compressor stays light most years.

Any central air conditioner installed new still has to meet a federal minimum of 13.4 SEER2. That floor is set for the whole country, so what you're buying already clears it no matter who installs it. The difference here is that your system won't be asked to prove it very often.

74°F
the average summer afternoon it cools against
13.4 SEER2
the federal minimum any new unit must meet
Isometric line illustration of a cutaway house showing interior rooms with furniture and ceiling ductwork, connected to an outdoor condenser unit with a fan beside the building.
Your air conditioner works hardest from July through August.

NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals

Aerial view of a gray outdoor air conditioning condenser unit mounted on a concrete pad next to a house with vinyl siding.

Going above the federal minimum saves little here, about $10 a year.

  • A higher-efficiency unit$90 a year
  • A new unit at the federal minimum, 13.4 SEER2$100 a year

Estimates for a typical Kitsap 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.

That registration puts the business on file with the Department of Labor and Industries. There is no trade exam behind it. It tells you the business is on record, not whether they know how to install an air conditioner.

Since Washington does not test the trade itself, the check on this job comes from the local building office. Installing an air conditioner in most cities and counties here needs a permit, and the work gets inspected once it is done. That permit and inspection are what stand between you and a bad installation, not the registration number.

Source: Washington State Legislature

What size air conditioner does my house need?
The right size depends on your home's square footage, how many windows it has, the insulation, and how the sun hits it through the day. A contractor works this out with a load calculation rather than a guess based on the old unit's size. Getting this right matters here too. Summer afternoons average only 74°F, and an oversized unit will short cycle instead of running long enough to dry the air out properly.
Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
If the indoor coil and outdoor unit were installed together and are close in age, replacing just the outdoor unit usually is not an option. Mismatched coils and condensers can fail to work efficiently together, and some manufacturers will not warranty the new part if the existing coil is not on their approved match list. A contractor can check what you have and tell you whether the coil is compatible with a new condenser or whether both need to come out together.
Do HVAC contractors in Bremerton need a state license to work on my home?
No, not a state license in the way you might expect. Washington requires contractors to register with the Department of Labor and Industries, but that is a business record, not a trade exam. You'll also need a permit from the local building office for the installation, and the work gets inspected once it's done.
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