AC Installation in Easton, MD
A new air conditioner in Easton will run from June through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Talbot County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Four months of real heat, every summer
Easton summers average 86°F in the afternoon, June through September. That is the stretch your air conditioner has to run well, cycling on and off through the hottest part of the day for four months straight.
Talbot County also sees its share of wind, with 93 damaging wind events recorded over the past ten years. An outdoor unit needs to be set and connected to hold up through that. Any new central air conditioner installed today has to meet at least 14.3 SEER2, the federal efficiency minimum.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 86°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 4 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 Talbot County home, from EIA household energy data, Maryland fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Maryland requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
That license belongs to the contractor as a business, not to the job. The same license that lets them take work anywhere in Maryland covers your installation, and the state's Board of Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Contractors is who issues it and keeps the record of who holds one.
The license does not inspect the work once it is done. For that, most cities and counties require a permit before a new air conditioner goes in, and an inspection after, and that is where the refrigerant lines, the electrical connections and the condensate drain get checked by someone other than the contractor who installed them.
Sources: Maryland General Assembly · Maryland Department of Labor
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- There is no way to answer that from the size of your house alone. A contractor works this out with a load calculation, which looks at your square footage, insulation, window area and orientation, and how many rooms need to stay cool. Putting in a unit that is too big is just as much a problem as one that is too small, since it will cool the air fast but shut off before it pulls the humidity down. A contractor will run the numbers and size the equipment to your house.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- In most cases you replace both the outdoor unit and the indoor coil together. The coil and the condenser are matched to work at a certain efficiency, and pairing a new condenser with an old coil usually means you lose the efficiency you are paying for, sometimes voids the warranty too. If your system is old enough that the outdoor unit is failing, the coil has usually put in just as many summers. A contractor can look at the coil's condition and tell you whether it is worth keeping.
- Do HVAC contractors in Easton need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. Maryland requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license, issued through the Maryland Board of HVACR Contractors, before they can install an air conditioner in your home. The license belongs to the contractor, not the job. Beyond that, installing a new air conditioner will usually need a permit from the local building office and an inspection once the work is finished, so ask whoever you hire to confirm they are pulling that permit.