AC Installation in Ashland, KY
A new air conditioner in Ashland will run from June through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Boyd County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Four months of real heat in Ashland
Summer afternoons here average 86°F, and a new system runs against that heat from June through September. That is the stretch it has to earn its keep, cycling on through the hottest part of the day, day after day.
Any central air conditioner installed new today has to meet a federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2. That is not a choice a homeowner makes, it is the floor every new unit starts from. Boyd County has also seen 49 damaging wind events and 4 hail events over the last ten years, so a new outdoor unit spends its life exposed to weather that does more than just heat it up.
- 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 $10 a year.
Estimates for a typical Boyd County home, from EIA household energy data, Kentucky fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Kentucky requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license comes from the state's Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction, and it belongs to the contractor, not to any single job. That means the person or company doing your install was tested and is on record with the state before they ever get to your house.
For this job, that license is the thing that stands behind the work. On top of it, most cities and counties in Kentucky require a permit for an air conditioner installation, along with an inspection once the work is done. That inspection is a separate check, done by the local building office, and it is where someone outside the contractor looks at the finished job.
Sources: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission · Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- There's no single number that fits every house. A contractor works this out with a load calculation, which looks at your square footage, how many windows you have, your insulation, and which way your house faces. An oversized unit cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the moisture out, so the house feels clammy. An undersized one runs nonstop on the hot afternoons and never quite catches up. With summer highs here averaging 86°F, getting that number right matters more than it would somewhere cooler.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- In most cases the outdoor unit and the indoor coil need to match. Air conditioners are built to work as a pair, and manufacturers rate their efficiency and capacity based on that specific pairing. Put a new outdoor unit on an old coil and you can lose efficiency, or run into a system that won't work correctly at all. A contractor can check the age and condition of what's inside before telling you whether it can stay.
- Do HVAC contractors in Ashland need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. Kentucky requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license, issued through the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction. That license covers the contractor, not the individual job, so it's worth confirming before work starts rather than after. Installing an air conditioner also typically needs a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the work is done.