AC Installation in Fort Worth, TX
A new air conditioner in Fort Worth will run from May through October every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Tarrant County will get in touch.
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Six months of Fort Worth heat, and the storms in between
Your air conditioner runs from May through October here, six months of the year, with summer afternoons averaging 94°F. That is a long stretch of hard running, and it means the unit you install needs to hold up to daily use, not occasional use.
Tarrant County has also logged 416 hail events and 253 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail as large as 5 inches recorded. A new outdoor unit sits exposed to that. Any system installed new has to meet the federal efficiency minimum of 14.3 SEER2, so the baseline is set. What matters after that is getting a unit sized and installed to actually handle a Fort Worth summer.
- 6 months
- May through October, your air conditioner is on duty
- 94°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 416 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 Tarrant County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Tarrant County home, from EIA household energy data, Texas fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Texas requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license comes from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, and it covers the contractor, not the job itself. TDLR licenses the business, and that license is what stands behind any job that business does, this one included.
For an air conditioner install, that license is not the only check on the work. In most cities and counties around Tarrant County, this job also needs a permit from the local building office and an inspection once the installation is done, separate from anything TDLR does.
Source: Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size depends on your square footage, your ceiling height, how much shade and sun your walls and windows get, and how well your attic is insulated. Two houses of the same size can need different tonnage because of these differences. A contractor works this out with a load calculation, not a chart based on square feet alone. Going too big cools the air fast but leaves the house damp, since the system never runs long enough to pull moisture out. With summer afternoons here hitting 94°F for six months of the year, getting this number right matters more than usual, since an undersized unit will run flat out all season and still lose ground on the hottest days.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- In most cases you replace both together. The outdoor unit and the indoor coil are matched to work at a specific efficiency and capacity, and pairing a new outdoor unit with an old coil usually means neither runs the way it was designed to. If your indoor coil is old, it may also not be rated for the refrigerant or the airflow the new outdoor unit needs, which can cut short the life of the new equipment. A contractor can check whether your existing coil and ductwork can actually support a new outdoor unit before you decide.
- Do HVAC contractors in Fort Worth need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. Texas requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license, issued by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Asking to see that license before work starts is a reasonable thing to do, and any licensed contractor should be able to show it without hesitation.