AC Installation in Hattiesburg, MS
A new air conditioner in Hattiesburg will run from May through October every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Forrest County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Six months of cooling, in real Mississippi heat
Your air conditioner runs from May through October here, six months of the year. Summer afternoons average 91°F, so the compressor spends most of that stretch working, not idling. That kind of run time is what wears a unit down and what makes sizing and installation matter more than the brand name on the box.
Any new central air conditioner installed today has to meet a federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2. That is the floor, not a feature, so the difference between units comes down to how well the size fits your home and how well it goes in.
- 6 months
- May through October, your air conditioner is on duty
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 22 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 Forrest County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Forrest County home, from EIA household energy data, Mississippi fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Mississippi requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Mississippi licenses HVAC contractors through the State Board of Contractors. The license covers the contractor, not each job, so it stands behind everything that contractor installs, not just this one.
For this installation, most cities and counties also require a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the work is done. That inspection is separate from the license. It is the local check that the new air conditioner was put in correctly.
Source: Mississippi State Board of Contractors
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- It depends on your square footage, your ceiling height, how much shade your house gets, how well it's insulated, and how many windows you have facing the sun. There's no rule of thumb that works across different houses, even ones that look similar from the street. A contractor will run a load calculation on your actual home and size the unit to that number. Going bigger than what the calculation says isn't a safety margin, it makes the unit cycle on and off too fast and wears it out faster.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- In most cases you want to replace both the outdoor unit and the indoor coil together. The two are matched to work at a specific efficiency and capacity, and pairing a new outdoor unit with an old coil usually means you lose the efficiency gain you're paying for. It can also void the manufacturer's warranty on the new equipment. A contractor can look at the age and condition of your indoor coil and tell you whether it's worth keeping.
- Do HVAC contractors in Hattiesburg need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. Mississippi requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license through the State Board of Contractors. The license belongs to the contractor, not to any one job, so it covers the person or company doing your install, not just this particular unit. Installing a new air conditioner also typically needs a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the work is done.