AC Installation in Kalamazoo, MI
A new air conditioner in Kalamazoo will run from June through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Kalamazoo County will get in touch.
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Kalamazoo asks three months of real work from your air conditioner
Summer here runs June through August, and afternoons average 81°F. That is not a long season, but it is a real one, and your new system needs to handle it from the first hot week through the last.
Michigan storms add their own demands. Kalamazoo County has logged 34 damaging wind events and 10 hail events over the past ten years, with hail up to 2 inches. An outdoor unit sits through that weather, so it needs to hold up to more than heat. Any new central air conditioner installed today also has to meet the federal efficiency minimum of 13.4 SEER2.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 81°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 10 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 Kalamazoo County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Kalamazoo County home, from EIA household energy data, Michigan fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Michigan requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Michigan's license covers the contractor as a business, not the specific job on your house. It comes from the Board of Mechanical Rules, so the same license that qualifies someone to install your air conditioner also stands behind whatever other mechanical work they take on.
For this job, that license is what stands behind the person doing the work. In most cities and counties, an air conditioner installation also needs a permit from the local building office and an inspection once the work is done. That inspection is separate from the license. It is the point where someone looks at the actual installation in your home and confirms it was done right.
Sources: Michigan Legislature · Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- It depends on your square footage, how much shade and insulation your house has, your window area, and your layout, so a contractor needs to measure your house to answer this rather than guess from its age or size alone. An oversized unit will not handle humidity well and will short cycle, and an undersized one will run constantly without keeping up on the hottest afternoons. A contractor will do a load calculation on your specific house and size the equipment to that number.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- In most cases you want to replace the outdoor unit and the indoor coil together, not the outdoor unit alone. The coil and condenser are matched to work at a specific capacity and refrigerant charge, and pairing a new condenser with an old coil often means the system never reaches the cooling output or efficiency it is rated for. Age matters too. If your furnace or air handler is old enough that it is likely to fail in the next few years, replacing everything at once avoids paying for labor twice. A contractor can look at what you have and tell you whether the coil, the furnace, and the ductwork are worth keeping.
- Do HVAC contractors in Kalamazoo need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. Michigan requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license, issued by the Board of Mechanical Rules. Ask to see it before work starts.