AC Installation in Tucson, AZ
A new air conditioner in Tucson will run from April through October every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Pima County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Seven months of Tucson heat, every year
Your air conditioner runs April through October here, seven months of the year. Summer afternoons average 99°F, and the unit has to keep up with that heat day after day with little break in between.
Pima County has also logged 277 damaging wind events and 54 hail events over the past ten years, with hailstones up to 1.75 inches. A new or replacement system installed today has to meet the federal efficiency minimum of 14.3 SEER2.
- 7 months
- April through October, your air conditioner is on duty
- 99°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 54 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 Pima County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Pima 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 licenses the contractor, not the job. That means the state tested this contractor before handing out the license, and keeps a record tied to their name, but nobody from the state comes out to look at your air conditioner once it's in.
That's where the local building office comes in. In most cities and counties in Pima County, an air conditioner installation needs a permit before the work starts and an inspection once it's done, so someone checks the actual unit going into your house against the local code.
Sources: Arizona State Legislature · Arizona Registrar of Contractors
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- There is no number you can look up by square footage alone. Sizing depends on how much heat your house gains through the walls, windows, attic, and duct system, and the only way to get that right is a load calculation done at the house. An oversized system cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the humidity down, and an undersized one runs constantly during the hottest afternoons and never quite catches up. A contractor will run the calculation and size the equipment to your house, not a rule of thumb.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If the indoor coil and outdoor unit are not the same age, replacing just the outdoor unit usually causes problems. The two are matched to work together, and pairing new equipment with an old coil can hurt efficiency and shorten the life of the new unit. A contractor can check the age and condition of both and tell you whether a full system replacement makes more sense than a partial one.
- Do HVAC contractors in Tucson 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. Before work starts, it's worth asking to see that license or checking it with the Registrar directly.