AC Installation in Concord, NH
A new air conditioner in Concord will run from July through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Merrimack County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Two months of heat, then it sits idle
Concord only needs cooling in July and August. Summer afternoons average 79°F, warm enough that a house needs a working system, even though the season is short compared to a lot of the country.
A new air conditioner installed now has to meet a federal minimum of 13.4 SEER2. It will also sit outside through weather that has brought 79 damaging wind events and 21 hail events over the past ten years, with hailstones as large as 1.75 inches. The condenser is exposed to that every year it sits outside, whether or not it is running.
- 2 months
- July through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 79°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 21 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 $30 a year to run in Merrimack County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Merrimack County home, from EIA household energy data, New Hampshire fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
New Hampshire has no state license for HVAC contractors.
New Hampshire has no state licensing or registration process for HVAC contractors. There is no test to pass and no state board keeping a record of who does this work. Whatever protection exists here comes from somewhere other than a license.
For your installation, that means the check comes from your local building office. In most cities and counties, putting in a new air conditioner needs a permit, and an inspection once the work is finished. That inspection is what confirms the job was done right.
Source: New Hampshire General Court
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size depends on your home's square footage, insulation, window area, and layout, not just a rule of thumb. An undersized unit will run constantly and never quite cool the house. An oversized one cools too fast, shuts off before it pulls the humidity out, and cycles on and off more than it should. A contractor will run a load calculation on your actual house to get this number right, since Concord only sees real cooling demand in July and August and getting the size wrong wastes most of that short season.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If the indoor and outdoor units were installed at the same time and are a matched set, replacing just the outdoor unit can throw off that match and hurt both efficiency and performance. Manufacturers rate their equipment based on specific indoor and outdoor pairings. An older indoor coil paired with a new outdoor unit may not perform the way either piece was designed to. A contractor can check the age and condition of both pieces and tell you whether a matched replacement makes more sense for your system.
- Do HVAC contractors in Concord need a state license to work on my home?
- No. New Hampshire has no state license or registration for HVAC contractors. That doesn't mean there's no paperwork involved in your project though. Most cities and counties still require a permit from the local building office for a new air conditioner installation, along with an inspection once the work is done. Ask any contractor you're considering how they handle the permit for your city.