AC Installation in Norman, OK
A new air conditioner in Norman will run from May through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Cleveland County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
What Norman summers ask of a new AC
Your air conditioner in Norman runs from May through September, five months of cooling with summer afternoons averaging 92°F. That is a long stretch of steady work, and the unit you install now needs to hold up through all of it, year after year.
Cleveland County has also logged 267 hail events and 163 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail as large as 3.41 inches. The outdoor unit sits exposed to that. And any new central air conditioner installed today has to meet the federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2, so whatever goes in will start from that baseline.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 92°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 267 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 Cleveland County home, from EIA household energy data, Oklahoma fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Oklahoma requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Oklahoma licenses HVAC contractors through the Construction Industries Board. That license covers the contractor, not each individual job, so the one being checked is the person or company, not this particular installation.
For this job, the license is what stands behind the contractor doing the work. It does not replace what happens at your house once the unit goes in. In most cities and counties, installing a new air conditioner needs a permit from the local building office, and an inspection when the work is done. That inspection is a separate check on this installation, apart from anything the state license covers.
Source: Oklahoma State Legislature
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- There is no set number that works for every house. A contractor sizes the unit with a load calculation that looks at your square footage, your insulation, how many windows you have and which way they face, and your ceiling height. Putting in a unit that is too big cools the house fast but shuts off before it pulls the humidity out, so the air feels damp. Too small, and it runs nonstop on the hottest afternoons and still can't keep up. Get the calculation done rather than going by the size of the unit you had before, especially if anything about the house has changed since it was installed.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your indoor and outdoor units were installed at the same time, replace them together. The two are matched to work at a specific capacity and airflow, and pairing a new outdoor unit with an old indoor coil throws that match off, which costs you efficiency and can shorten the life of the new equipment. A contractor can look at the age and condition of the indoor coil and tell you whether it's worth keeping. If the coil is old or already showing signs of wear, replacing both at once is usually the sounder path.
- Do HVAC contractors in Norman need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. Oklahoma requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license, issued through the Construction Industries Board. The license is held by the contractor, not issued per job, so it's worth confirming before work starts rather than assuming it. You'll also need a permit from the local building office for an AC installation, with an inspection once the work is finished.