AC Installation in Nogales, AZ
A new air conditioner in Nogales will run from May through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Santa Cruz County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Five months of Nogales heat, every year
From May through September your air conditioner runs to keep up with summer afternoons that average 90°F. That is five months a year it has to work.
Santa Cruz County has also seen sixteen hail events and fifty-three damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail as large as 1.75 inches. An outdoor unit installed with that in mind holds up better. Any new central air conditioner installed today has to meet the federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 90°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 16 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 Santa Cruz County home, from EIA household energy data, Arizona fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Arizona requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Registrar of Contractors tests the contractor before handing out a license, then keeps that contractor on record. It's the business that's licensed, not the individual job, so the same license covers this installation and the next one down the street.
For an air conditioner installation, that license is what stands behind the work itself, but the local building office still has a say. In most cities and counties here, putting in a new air conditioner needs a permit and an inspection once the job is done, separate from anything the state license covers.
Sources: Arizona State Legislature · Arizona Registrar of Contractors
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size depends on your home's square footage, ceiling height, insulation, window area, and how much shade it gets, not just a rule of thumb per square foot. A unit that's too big cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the humidity down, so the house feels clammy. A contractor will do a load calculation on the actual house to size it correctly, since summer afternoons here average 90°F and an undersized unit will struggle to keep up.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your indoor coil and outdoor unit were installed together and matched for each other, replacing only the outdoor unit can leave you with a mismatched system that won't reach its rated efficiency and may not cool well. The indoor and outdoor parts are designed to work as a pair. A contractor can check the age and condition of the coil, the ductwork, and the refrigerant type to tell you whether the indoor side is worth keeping or whether a full replacement makes more sense.
- Do HVAC contractors in Nogales need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. Arizona requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license, issued by the Registrar of Contractors. Ask to see the license number before work starts, and you can look it up with the Registrar of Contractors to confirm it's current.