AC Installation in Kennewick, WA
A new air conditioner in Kennewick will run from June through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Benton County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Three months of real heat is what your AC has to answer for
Kennewick asks for cooling June through August, with summer afternoons averaging 86°F. That is a short season, but a demanding one, and the unit you install has to be sized and set up to handle those afternoons without straining.
Any new central air conditioner installed today has to meet 13.4 SEER2, the federal minimum since 2023. Wind shows up more than hail here, with 25 damaging wind events recorded over the past ten years against 3 hail events, so the outdoor unit's placement and mounting matter as much as the equipment inside it.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 86°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 3 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 $50 a year to run in Benton County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Benton 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 means the business is on file with the Department of Labor and Industries. It does not mean anyone tested the contractor's work or reviewed a job like yours. There is no exam behind it, only a record that the business exists and is registered to operate.
Since Washington does not license this trade, the check on your installation comes from the local building office instead. In most cities and counties here, putting in a new air conditioner needs a permit, and an inspection once the work is finished. That inspection is what confirms the unit went in correctly, not the registration.
Source: Washington State Legislature
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size depends on your square footage, your windows, your insulation, and how your ductwork is laid out, so it isn't something to guess at or judge by the size of the unit you have now. A contractor works this out with a load calculation that looks at the whole house, not just its floor plan. Going too big is just as much a problem as going too small. An oversized unit cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the humidity out of the room, so the house feels clammy even at the right temperature.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your indoor coil and outdoor unit are different ages or different efficiency ratings, replacing only the outdoor unit can cause problems, since the two are matched to work together. A mismatched coil can mean the new unit never reaches the efficiency it's rated for, and some manufacturers won't honor the warranty on a split system like that. A contractor can check whether your existing coil and ductwork will work with a new outdoor unit or whether the whole system needs to go in together.
- Do HVAC contractors in Kennewick need a state license to work on my home?
- Washington requires contractors to register with the Department of Labor and Industries, but that's a business registration, not a trade license, and there's no trade exam behind it. What matters more for an AC installation is the local permit. Most cities and counties, Kennewick included, require a permit and inspection when an air conditioner is installed, and that inspection is what confirms the work was done right.