AC Installation in Huntington, WV
A new air conditioner in Huntington will run from June through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Cabell County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Four months of real heat, every year
Huntington summers run June through September, four months where your air conditioner works through afternoons averaging 86°F. That is the stretch it has to hold up through, year after year.
Cabell County has also logged 71 damaging wind events and 20 hail events over the past ten years, with hailstones up to 1.75 inches. The outdoor unit sits outside through all of that. Any new central air conditioner installed today has to meet a federal minimum of 13.4 SEER2, and getting the size right for your home is what decides how well it keeps up when the heat sets in.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 86°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 20 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 $40 a year to run in Cabell County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Cabell County home, from EIA household energy data, West Virginia fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
West Virginia requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license is issued to the contractor by the state, through the Commissioner of Labor, and it covers that contractor's business, not the particular job at your house. The state tested and recorded them before handing it over. It does not get reissued or checked off each time they take on a new install.
For an air conditioner install, that license is what stands behind the person doing the work, but it is not the only check on the job itself. Most cities and counties in West Virginia require a permit from the local building office for this kind of replacement, along with an inspection once the unit is in. That inspection is what catches a bad installation on the spot, separate from whatever the state license already tells you about the contractor.
Source: West Virginia Legislature
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size comes from a load calculation, not from the square footage of your house alone. A contractor measures your windows, your insulation, your ceiling height, and how much shade your house gets before landing on a number. An oversized unit cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the humidity out, and an undersized one runs constantly and still can't keep up on an 86°F afternoon. Either mistake costs you comfort, so let the calculation decide, not a guess based on the last house you lived in.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- In most cases the outdoor unit and the indoor coil need to be replaced together, not just the condenser outside. The two are matched to work at a specific capacity and efficiency, and pairing a new outdoor unit with an old coil usually means you lose the efficiency gain you're paying for. If your system is old enough that the outdoor unit is failing, the coil has likely logged the same years and hours. A contractor can look at both and tell you what shape the coil is really in, but replacing only the outdoor unit is rarely the right call.
- Do HVAC contractors in Huntington need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. West Virginia requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license, issued through the Commissioner of Labor. That license covers the contractor as a business, not each individual job. Beyond the state license, installing a new air conditioner in Huntington also needs a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the work is done.