AC Installation in Meridian, MS
A new air conditioner in Meridian will run from May through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Lauderdale County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Five months of Meridian heat to size for
Your air conditioner works from May through September here, five months a year, with summer afternoons averaging 90°F. It has to hold that line day after day, all season, not just on the hottest afternoon.
Any new unit installed has to meet the federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2. Lauderdale County has also logged 126 damaging wind events and 21 hail events over the past ten years, one hailstone as large as 2.75 inches. The outdoor unit sits outside through all of that.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 90°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
Going above the federal minimum saves little here, about $20 a year.
Estimates for a typical Lauderdale 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 license comes from the State Board of Contractors, and it covers the contractor, not the individual job. That means the state tested this contractor and keeps a record of them before they ever show up at your house, but the license itself does not follow the work once it starts.
What covers the job itself is the local permit process. In most cities and counties in Lauderdale County, putting in a new air conditioner needs a permit from the local building office, and an inspector checks the work once it is done. That inspection is what confirms the installation was done right, separate from whatever the contractor's license already tells you about who they are.
Source: Mississippi State Board of Contractors
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- There is no single answer without looking at your house. The right size depends on your square footage, how much insulation you have, how many windows you have and which way they face, and your ceiling height. An undersized unit will run constantly and never quite cool the house on a 90°F afternoon. An oversized one cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the humidity out, so the house feels clammy. A contractor works this out with a load calculation, not a guess based on the size of your old unit.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your indoor coil and outdoor unit are matched and both still in good shape, replacing just the outdoor unit can make sense. But the two are built to work together, and pairing a new outdoor unit with an old indoor coil often means the system never hits the efficiency or cooling capacity it's rated for. Age matters too. If the indoor coil is old enough that it's close to needing replacement anyway, doing both now can save you from paying for labor a second time down the road. A contractor can check whether your existing coil is a match for a new outdoor unit before you decide.
- Do HVAC contractors in Meridian need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. Mississippi requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license, issued through the State Board of Contractors. The license is held by the contractor, not issued per job, so it's worth confirming the person or company doing the work is the licensed party. Separately, installing a new air conditioner typically needs a permit from the local building office and an inspection once the work is finished. This is different from the contractor's license and is tied to the job itself.