AC Installation in Allentown, PA
A new air conditioner in Allentown will run from June through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Lehigh County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Three months of real heat, then it sits idle
Allentown asks for cooling from June through August, with summer afternoons averaging 83°F. That's not a long season, but it's a demanding one, and the unit you install needs to handle those peak afternoons without strain from the day it goes in.
A new central air conditioner here has to meet 13.4 SEER2, the federal minimum for units built since 2023. Lehigh County also sees its share of hail and wind, 41 hail events and 211 damaging wind storms over the past ten years, so the outdoor unit's placement and the condition of its fins and cabinet matter as much as what's rated on the label.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 83°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 41 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 Lehigh County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Lehigh County home, from EIA household energy data, Pennsylvania fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Pennsylvania requires contractors to register with the state.
That registration puts the business on file with the state and nothing more. Nobody tests the contractor's trade knowledge before that number is issued, and the state does not track how the work turns out. Pennsylvania also does not let Lehigh County or any city add its own HVAC license on top, so this registration is the only state-level record you have to go on.
For an air conditioner install, the protection that matters comes from the local building office, not the state. Setting refrigerant lines and a new outdoor unit is the kind of job that needs a permit in most cities and counties, with an inspection once the work is finished. That inspection is what checks the installation actually got done right, since Pennsylvania's registration was never built to do that.
Source: Pennsylvania General Assembly
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size depends on your home's square footage, insulation, window count and layout, not just a rule of thumb. A unit that's too big cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the humidity down, so rooms feel clammy. One that's too small runs constantly and never quite catches up on the hottest afternoons. A contractor will run a load calculation on your actual house and size the system to it.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your indoor and outdoor units are matched and the indoor coil is still in good shape, replacing just the outdoor unit can work. But if the system is old, a new outdoor unit paired with a worn indoor coil often runs poorly and can shorten the life of the new equipment. Manufacturers also build outdoor and indoor units to work as a matched pair, so mixing an old coil with new refrigerant and controls can cause problems down the line. A contractor can check whether your indoor coil is compatible before you decide.
- Do HVAC contractors in Allentown need a state license to work on my home?
- Pennsylvania doesn't license HVAC contractors through a trade board, but it does require them to register with the state. That registration goes through the Bureau of Consumer Protection. Ask to see the registration before work starts, and check that the name on it matches the company doing the job.