HVAC Installation in McAllen, TX
A new system here will heat from December through January and cool from February through November every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Hidalgo County will get in touch.
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Ten months of cooling a year, in a county that loses power
Your air conditioner is the machine that keeps this house livable. McAllen homes need cooling February through November, ten months of the year, with summer afternoons averaging 97°F. That system runs almost constantly for most of the year, and it has to be sized and installed to handle that load without struggling.
Winter is short here, just December and January, with nights averaging 51°F. A new system still needs to heat those two months, but the real work it will do is cooling. Most homes in this area run on electric heat, and a third of Texas households lost power for at least a day in 2024. A new install is worth planning around that, since a system that depends on the grid is only as reliable as the grid is.
- 2 months
- December through January, your system heats
- 10 months
- February through November, it cools
- 51°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 97°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
Texas requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation is the state agency that tests and records HVAC contractors before they can take licensed work. The exam and the paperwork happen once, at the contractor level, not once per job, so the license on file tells you the person or company met the state's bar to do this kind of work, not that this particular installation was checked.
That oversight covers who is allowed to do the job. It does not cover whether this installation was done right. That comes from the local building office. Setting a new furnace, air conditioner or heat pump usually needs a permit and an inspection once the work is finished, and in most cities and counties across Hidalgo County that is the step that confirms the new system was connected correctly.
Source: Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
- When should I replace my HVAC system?
- Replace it when repairs start happening every year, or when the unit is old enough that a breakdown could leave you without cooling in the middle of summer. Homes here need cooling ten months a year, so your air conditioner carries a heavier load than a furnace that only runs in December and January. If a contractor tells you the compressor or the heat exchanger is failing, that is usually the point where replacing costs less over time than repairing again. Age alone is not the only sign, but a unit that struggles to keep up on a 97 degree afternoon is telling you something.
- Should I replace my furnace and air conditioner at the same time?
- If both are old, yes, it makes sense to do them together. A furnace and air conditioner installed at the same time are matched to work as one system, and pairing an old furnace with a new AC, or the reverse, can mean the new unit never runs the way it was designed to. That said, if your furnace is still young and only your air conditioner has failed, there is no reason to replace something that is working. A contractor can look at the age and condition of both and tell you whether pairing them makes sense for your house.
- What happens during an HVAC installation?
- A contractor removes the old equipment first, then sets the new furnace, air handler or condenser in place and connects it to your ductwork, gas line or electrical circuit, and refrigerant lines. After that they test the system, checking airflow, refrigerant charge, and that the thermostat is communicating with the equipment correctly. On a full system swap this usually touches both the indoor and outdoor units, since they are matched to run together. The exact steps depend on what you are replacing and how your current setup is configured, which a contractor will walk through for your specific house.