AC Installation in Laurel, MS
A new air conditioner in Laurel will run from May through October every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Jones County will get in touch.
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Six months of Laurel summer, and storms in between
A new air conditioner in Laurel runs from May through October, six months of the year, with summer afternoons averaging 91°F. That is a long stretch for the compressor to carry the load, not a few weeks of heat.
Jones County also sees real storm weather. Ten years of records show 160 damaging wind events and 35 hail events, with hail up to 2.5 inches. The outdoor unit sits outside through all of it, so the cabinet and coil need to hold up. Any new central air conditioner installed today also has to meet the federal efficiency minimum of 14.3 SEER2.
- 6 months
- May through October, your air conditioner is on duty
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 35 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 Jones County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Jones 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.
The state license comes from the Mississippi State Board of Contractors. It tests the contractor before the license is issued and keeps a record of who holds one. The license belongs to the contractor, not to any single job, so the same license covers this installation and every other job that contractor takes on.
For an air conditioner installation, that license is what stands behind the work. On top of it, most cities and counties in Mississippi require a permit for a job like this, with an inspection once the unit is in. The permit and inspection are a separate check, done by the local building office, not the state board.
Source: Mississippi State Board of Contractors
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size depends on your square footage, your ceiling height, how much shade and sun the house gets, and how well it holds cold air, so no one can give you a number without looking at the house. A contractor works this out with a load calculation, not a chart based on square footage alone. Getting this wrong in either direction costs you. Too small and it runs all summer without keeping up on the 91 degree afternoons Laurel gets. Too large and it cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the humidity down, so the house feels damp even when the thermostat says it's cool.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If the indoor coil and the outdoor unit were installed together and matched to work as a pair, replacing only the outdoor unit can cause problems even when the new unit is a good one. Refrigerant systems are engineered around both pieces working together. Put a new outdoor unit on an old indoor coil and you can end up with poor cooling, ice on the coil, or a compressor that wears out early. A contractor can tell you whether your coil is a match for a new outdoor unit or whether the age and condition of the rest of the system means replacing both makes more sense. Since Laurel homes need cooling six months of the year, from May through October, a system that is not working right is not a small inconvenience here.
- Do HVAC contractors in Laurel 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. That license covers the contractor, not the job itself, so on top of that you will likely need a separate permit from the local building office for the AC installation, with an inspection once the work is finished. Ask any contractor you're considering for their license number before they start.