AC Installation in Los Angeles, CA
A new air conditioner in Los Angeles will run from June through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Los Angeles County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Four months of real heat, every year
Los Angeles County asks for cooling from June through September, with summer afternoons averaging 87°F. That is the stretch your new system has to handle, running long hours to keep up with heat that doesn't let up until fall.
Any central air conditioner installed new has to meet a federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2. That's the baseline for how efficiently it turns power into cooling, and it's worth knowing when you're comparing what a contractor proposes to put in.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 87°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 9 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 Los Angeles County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Los Angeles 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.
The license comes from the Contractors State License Board, and it belongs to the contractor, not to any single job. The board tests the contractor before issuing it and keeps a record tied to their name, so the license on file is the same one that has to show up on your paperwork here.
For an air conditioner installation, that license is what stands behind the work, but the job still needs a permit from the local building office in most cities and counties, along with an inspection once it is done. The permit and inspection are separate from the license. They are the check on whether this particular installation was done right, not on whether the contractor is allowed to do the work.
Sources: California Legislative Counsel · Contractors State License Board
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size depends on your square footage, your ceiling height, how much sun your walls and windows get, and how much insulation is in your attic. It's not just square footage on a chart. A contractor will do a load calculation, usually called a Manual J, that weighs all of that together. Going bigger than what the calculation shows isn't a safety margin, it's a mistake. An oversized unit cools the air fast then shuts off before it pulls the moisture out, so the house feels clammy even at the right temperature.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your indoor coil and outdoor condenser are original to each other, replace both at the same time. Manufacturers match the coil and condenser as a set, and pairing a new condenser with an old coil often means the system never hits the efficiency it's rated for. Age matters too. If the indoor coil has years of wear on it, it's likely to fail before long, and you'd be paying for the labor again. A contractor can check the coil's condition and tell you whether it's worth keeping.
- Do HVAC contractors in Los Angeles need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. California requires anyone doing HVAC work to hold a license from the Contractors State License Board. You can look up a contractor's license number on the CSLB website before you hire them to confirm it's active and covers the work you need done.