AC Installation in Boston, MA
A new air conditioner in Boston will run from July through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Suffolk County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Boston asks two months of real work from your AC
Cooling season here runs July through August, with summer afternoons averaging 80°F. That is a short window, but a hot one, and your air conditioner needs to be sized and installed right to keep up when it matters.
If you are putting in a new central air conditioner, it has to meet the federal minimum of 13.4 SEER2. Suffolk County also sees its share of wind, with 140 damaging wind events recorded over the last ten years, so the outdoor unit needs to be installed and secured with that in mind.
- 2 months
- July through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 80°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 6 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 $40 a year to run in Suffolk County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Suffolk County home, from EIA household energy data, Massachusetts fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size comes from a load calculation, not a rule of thumb based on square footage. A contractor looks at your insulation, your windows, how many floors you have, and which way your house faces before landing on a number. An oversized unit cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the humidity out, so the house feels damp even at the right temperature. Getting the size right matters more than guessing high, since a bigger unit costs more to run and won't cool your house any better.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your indoor coil and outdoor unit were installed together and are close in age, replacing just the outdoor unit usually causes problems. The coil and the compressor are matched to work at a specific capacity, and pairing an old coil with a new condenser can mean poor cooling and a shorter life for the new equipment. Refrigerant type is another issue, since older systems may use a refrigerant that new outdoor units are not built to run on. A contractor can check what you have and tell you whether the coil is still a good match or whether it makes sense to replace both at once.
- Do HVAC contractors in Boston need a state license to work on my home?
- Ask to see a license before any work starts on your home. A licensed contractor carries the training and insurance that installing or servicing a central air system calls for, including the electrical and refrigerant work involved. If a contractor can't produce a license number, that alone is reason to look elsewhere.