HVAC Installation in Yakima, WA
A new system here will heat from September through June and cool from July through July every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Yakima County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
A system that has to work most of the year
Winter nights here average 24°F from December through February, and homes need heat from September clear through June. That is ten months of a furnace or heat pump running most nights just to keep up. Summer only asks for cooling in July, when afternoons average 78°F, but eleven months a year something in the system is on.
Most homes here heat with electricity, so a new system has to hold up when the grid does not. Yakima County has seen 62 winter storms and 21 damaging wind events over the past ten years, and in 2024 close to a quarter of Washington households lost power for a full day or more. Whatever gets installed needs to handle a long heating season and come back on its own when the power does.
- 10 months
- September through June, your system heats
- 1 months
- July through July, it cools
- 24°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 78°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Washington requires contractors to register with the state.
The registration means the contractor's business is on file with the Department of Labor and Industries. There is no trade exam behind it. It is a record that the business exists, not a check on how the work gets done.
For this job, in most cities and counties an installation like this needs a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the work is finished. That inspection is what checks a new furnace, air conditioner or heat pump before it gets signed off.
Source: Washington State Legislature
- When should I replace my HVAC system?
- Replace it when repairs start piling up or the system can't keep the house warm on the coldest winter nights here, when lows average 24 degrees. A furnace or heat pump working that hard year after year loses efficiency even between breakdowns. If a contractor has been out more than once this year, or the unit is old enough that parts are getting hard to find, replacing it before it fails is worth considering. Homes here need heat from September through June, so a system on its last legs doesn't get much of a break to recover.
- Should I replace my furnace and air conditioner at the same time?
- If both are original to the house and close in age, replacing them together often makes sense, but it depends on the condition of each one. A furnace and air conditioner installed at the same time are matched to work together, and replacing one but not the other can mean the new part is held back by the old one. That said, homes here only need cooling in July, so the air conditioner sees a fraction of the run time the furnace does. A contractor can look at both and tell you honestly whether one still has years left in it.
- What happens during an HVAC installation?
- A contractor removes the old furnace, air conditioner or heat pump and puts in the new one, then connects it to the existing ductwork, gas line or electrical circuit as needed. This includes checking that the ducts are sized right for the new equipment, since a system that's too big or too small for the ducts won't heat or cool evenly. In most cities and counties, this work needs a permit from the local building office, and an inspector checks the job once it's done. A contractor pulling the permit and scheduling that inspection is part of a proper installation, not an extra step.