AC Installation in Ravenswood, WV
A new air conditioner in Ravenswood will run from June through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Jackson County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Four months of summer heat to plan for
Ravenswood summers average 84°F in the afternoon, and a new air conditioner runs from June through September to keep up with it. That is four months of steady work every year, and it starts back up again the same way each spring.
Any central air conditioner installed new has to meet a federal minimum of 13.4 SEER2. Jackson County also sees its share of hail and wind, with 21 hail events and 45 damaging wind events recorded over the last ten years, so the outdoor unit needs to hold up outside as well as it cools inside.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 84°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 Jackson County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Jackson 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.
West Virginia licenses HVAC contractors through the Commissioner of Labor. The license is held by the contractor, not issued job by job, so it does not need to be renewed or reissued for your installation specifically.
For this job, that license is what stands behind the work. On top of it, most cities and counties call for a permit from the local building office and an inspection once the new air conditioner is installed, which checks the job itself rather than the contractor.
Source: West Virginia Legislature
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size depends on your square footage, your ceiling height, how much shade and sun your walls and windows get, and how much insulation you have. A contractor works this out with a load calculation, not a chart based on home size alone. An oversized unit cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the humidity down, so the house feels clammy even at the right temperature. An undersized one runs constantly on your hottest afternoons and still falls behind. Since summer afternoons here average 84°F, getting the size right matters for how the house feels on those days, not just whether the unit turns on.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your indoor coil and outdoor unit were installed together and matched for each other, replacing only the outdoor unit can leave you with a mismatched system that never reaches its rated efficiency. Age matters too. If the indoor coil is old, it may not hold up under a new compressor or match the refrigerant the new unit uses. A contractor can check the age and condition of the coil and tell you whether it can pair with a new outdoor unit or whether the whole system needs to go in together.
- Do HVAC contractors in Ravenswood 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 they do. Separately, installing a new air conditioner in most cities and counties also needs a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the work is finished. Ask any contractor you're considering for their license number before they start work.