AC Installation in Walla Walla, WA
A new air conditioner in Walla Walla will run from July through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Walla Walla County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Two months of real heat, then it shuts down
Walla Walla only asks a new air conditioner to work hard for July and August, with afternoons averaging 86°F. The rest of the year it sits idle. That short, hot stretch is still what the unit has to be sized and installed for, so it can keep up on the afternoons that matter instead of running flat out and falling behind.
A new central air conditioner installed today has to meet a federal minimum of 13.4 SEER2. Beyond the equipment itself, the county has seen 37 damaging wind events over the past ten years and a couple of hail events, so an outdoor unit here also needs to be set up and anchored to hold up outside.
- 2 months
- July through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 86°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 2 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 Walla Walla County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Walla Walla 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 contractor's business on file with the Department of Labor and Industries. Nobody tests their skill to get that number, so it tells you the business is on record, not that the state checked their work.
For an air conditioner installation, the protection that matters comes from the local building office. In most cities and counties, this job needs a permit before the work starts and an inspection once it is done, and that inspection is what checks the refrigerant lines, the electrical connections, and the unit itself were put in correctly.
Source: Washington State Legislature
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- It depends on the size of your house, how much shade and sun it gets, how well it's insulated, and how many windows it has, so there's no number you can guess at safely. A unit that's too big cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the moisture out, leaving the house feeling clammy. A unit that's too small runs constantly and still can't keep up on the hottest afternoons. A contractor will do a load calculation on your actual house and size the system to that, not to the one you're replacing.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your indoor coil and outdoor unit were installed together and matched to each other, replacing just the outdoor unit usually causes problems. The refrigerant and airflow the new unit needs won't match an old coil, and that shows up as poor cooling or a system that wears out early. If the indoor coil is old too, or it's not compatible with newer refrigerant, replacing both at once makes more sense. A contractor can look at what you have and tell you whether the coil is worth keeping.
- Do HVAC contractors in Walla Walla 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. There's no state exam behind it. What matters more for an AC installation is the local permit. In most cities and counties here, putting in a new air conditioner needs a permit from the building office and an inspection once the work is done, so ask whoever you hire whether they're pulling that permit.