AC Installation in Bakersfield, CA
A new air conditioner in Bakersfield will run from May through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Kern County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Five months of Bakersfield heat, every year
Your air conditioner works May through September here, five months of the year, with summer afternoons averaging 93°F. That is the stretch a new system has to be sized and installed to handle.
Any central air conditioner installed today has to meet the federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2. Kern County has also seen 711 damaging wind events over the past ten years, so the outdoor unit and its installation need to hold up to more than just the heat.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 93°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 8 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 Kern County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Kern County home, from EIA household energy data, California fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
California requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
That license is issued to the contractor, not to the job, so it covers the business behind the work rather than this specific install. It comes from the Contractors State License Board.
In most cities and counties, an air conditioner installation needs a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the work is done.
Sources: California Legislative Counsel · Contractors State License Board
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- There is no single answer without looking at your house. A contractor sizes the unit using a load calculation that accounts for your square footage, insulation, window placement, and how much shade the house gets, since Bakersfield summers push afternoon highs to 93°F and an undersized unit will run constantly trying to keep up. Putting in a unit that is too big is just as much of a problem, because it will cool the air fast without running long enough to pull humidity out, so you end up with a clammy house. Ask the contractor to walk through the load calculation with you rather than just quoting a size based on the old unit.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If the indoor and outdoor units were installed together and matched to each other, replacing just the outdoor unit can throw off that match and hurt both efficiency and how well the system controls humidity. The indoor coil and outdoor condenser are built to work at specific pressures and airflow together, so pairing a new condenser with an old coil can mean the system never runs the way either piece was designed to. Age matters too. If the indoor coil is old enough that it is close to needing replacement anyway, it usually makes more sense to do both at once. A contractor can check whether your existing coil is compatible with a new outdoor unit before you decide.
- Do HVAC contractors in Bakersfield need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. California requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license, issued by the Contractors State License Board. Ask to see the license number before work starts, and you can look it up directly with the board to confirm it is current.