AC Installation in Columbus, OH
A new air conditioner in Columbus will run from June through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Franklin County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Four months of real heat, every year
Columbus summers run June through September, with afternoons averaging 84°F. That is four straight months of your air conditioner cycling on most days, and the unit you install now needs to hold up to that stretch year after year.
Franklin County also sees its share of hail and wind, so where the outdoor unit sits and how it is protected matters. Any new central air conditioner installed today has to meet a federal minimum of 13.4 SEER2, so the baseline efficiency is already set. What still depends on the install is sizing the system to your house and setting it up to run right through a Columbus summer.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 84°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 79 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 Franklin County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Franklin County home, from EIA household energy data, Ohio fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
In Ohio, HVAC licensing for homes is left to the counties.
That means the state itself keeps no record of who is qualified to install your air conditioner. Whatever protection exists comes from Franklin County, since counties in Ohio are the ones that set and enforce contractor rules for home work. Ohio does define a home contractor as someone carrying at least $250,000 in liability insurance, but that is a definition of the term, not a license or a test anyone has to pass.
For this job, the county permit is what stands in for that missing state license. Installing a new air conditioner in most cities and counties needs a permit from the local building office, and the work gets inspected once it is done. That inspection is what confirms the unit was installed correctly, not a license number.
Source: Ohio Legislative Service Commission
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size depends on your home's square footage, how much insulation it has, how many windows it has, and which way they face. A unit that's too big cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the moisture out, so the house feels damp. One that's too small runs constantly and still can't keep up on an 84°F afternoon, which is a normal summer high here. A contractor will do a load calculation on your actual house rather than go by square footage alone, and that's the number worth trusting.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- In most cases the outdoor unit and the indoor coil need to be matched, so replacing just one often means the new unit can't perform the way it's rated to. If your system is old enough that the outdoor unit is failing, the indoor coil has usually logged the same years and same wear. A contractor can check whether your existing coil and air handler are still compatible with a new outdoor unit before you decide. New central air conditioners sold today have to meet a federal minimum of 13.4 SEER2, which is worth asking about if you're comparing a repair against a full replacement.
- Do HVAC contractors in Columbus need a state license to work on my home?
- Ohio doesn't license HVAC contractors at the state level for residential work. It's left to each county, so whether a license is required where you live depends on Franklin County's own rules. Ask any contractor you're considering for their license or registration number and check it with Franklin County directly before work starts.