AC Installation in Murrysville, PA
A new air conditioner in Murrysville will run from June through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Westmoreland County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Three months of real work, then long stretches of rest
Murrysville summers run June through August, with afternoons averaging 81°F. That is not the kind of heat that runs a system nonstop, but it is enough that a new air conditioner needs to be sized right for the house it is cooling, not just swapped in to match the old one.
Westmoreland County has logged 441 damaging wind events and 59 hail storms over the past ten years, with hail up to 2 inches. Whatever unit goes in next will sit outside through those storms for years, so the outdoor coil and cabinet matter as much as anything inside the house. Any new central air conditioner installed today also has to meet the federal minimum of 13.4 SEER2.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 81°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 59 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 $20 a year.
Estimates for a typical Westmoreland 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. There is no trade exam behind it, and nothing about the contractor's work is tested before the number is issued. Pennsylvania also keeps cities and towns from adding their own HVAC license on top of it, so this registration is the only state-level record that exists here, in Westmoreland County or anywhere else in the state.
For an air conditioner installation, the protection on this job comes from the local building office, not from the registration. In most cities and counties, putting in a new air conditioner needs a permit and an inspection once the work is finished, and that inspection is what checks the installation itself, the wiring, the refrigerant lines, the way the unit is set. In Pennsylvania, that permit and inspection are what stand behind the work, not the state registration.
Source: Pennsylvania General Assembly
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size comes from a load calculation, not the size of your current unit or the square footage of your house alone. A contractor looks at your home's insulation, window area, ceiling height, and layout to figure out how much heat needs to be removed on a summer afternoon. An oversized unit cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls moisture out, so the house feels damp. An undersized one runs constantly and still can't keep up when it's 81 degrees outside. Have a contractor run the calculation for your house rather than guessing from the old system.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your indoor and outdoor units were installed together and are close in age, replace both at the same time. The compressor outside and the coil inside are matched to work at a specific capacity and efficiency, and pairing a new outdoor unit with an old indoor coil can keep the system from reaching the efficiency it's rated for. It can also void the manufacturer's warranty on the new equipment. A contractor can check what's installed now and tell you whether the coil and refrigerant lines are worth keeping or not.
- Do HVAC contractors in Murrysville need a state license to work on my home?
- Pennsylvania doesn't license HVAC contractors, but it does require them to register with the state. That registration goes through the Bureau of Consumer Protection. Ask to see a contractor's registration before signing anything, since it's the main paperwork protection you have at the state level.