AC Installation in Tulsa, OK
A new air conditioner in Tulsa will run from May through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Tulsa County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Five months of Tulsa heat to plan for
From May through September your air conditioner is what keeps the house livable through afternoons that average 91°F. That is the stretch it has to work, every year.
The condenser sits outside through Tulsa County's weather year round, including hail and wind. Over the last ten years the area logged 215 hail events, with stones as large as 4.25 inches, and 276 damaging wind events. Where the new unit goes and how it's protected is worth planning for, not something to figure out after it's installed. Any new central air conditioner also has to meet the federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2, and it should be sized for what a Tulsa summer actually asks of it.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 91°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 215 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 Tulsa 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.
The Construction Industries Board issues that license after testing the contractor, and it keeps a record of who holds one. It covers the contractor as a whole, not the specific job at your house, so it tells you the person or company has passed the state's test and is on file, not that any one installation was inspected as part of getting licensed.
For an air conditioner install, the license is what stands behind the person doing the work, but the job itself still needs a permit from the local building office in most cities and counties, along with an inspection once the installation is done. That inspection is what checks the actual work at your house. The license and the permit cover different things, and here both apply.
Source: Oklahoma State Legislature
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size depends on your home's square footage, insulation, window area and layout, not just a rule of thumb. A contractor works this out with a load calculation, not a guess based on the old unit's size. Putting in one that's too big or too small hurts both comfort and how long the system lasts, so this is worth getting right rather than rushed.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If the indoor coil and outdoor unit were installed together and are close in age, most contractors will recommend replacing both. Matching a new outdoor unit to an old indoor coil can cause it to run less efficiently than it's rated for, and some manufacturers won't warranty the mismatch. A contractor can look at the age and condition of both pieces and tell you whether the coil is still worth keeping.
- Do HVAC contractors in Tulsa 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 the company doing the work is the licensed one. Installing a new air conditioner also typically needs a permit from the local building office and an inspection once the work is finished.