AC Installation in Covington, GA
A new air conditioner in Covington will run from May through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Newton County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
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Five months of Covington summers put real load on a new system
From May through September, your air conditioner is what stands between you and a house that's 89°F inside. That's the average summer afternoon here, not the peak, so the unit you install has to hold up to that heat day after day for five months straight.
Newton County has also seen 39 damaging wind events and 6 hail storms over the past ten years, one dropping hail 1.75 inches wide. Whatever goes in outside needs to take that kind of weather and keep running. If it's new construction, the condenser also has to meet the federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2, the efficiency standard now required for central air conditioners.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 89°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 6 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 Newton County home, from EIA household energy data, Georgia fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Georgia requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
Georgia's license is issued by the State Construction Industry Licensing Board, and it covers the contractor, not the job itself. That means the board has tested the person or business taking on your install and keeps a record of them, but it does not sign off on any particular installation. The license tells you the contractor met the state's bar to do this work at all.
For the install itself, the check on the work comes from your local building office. Most cities and counties in Georgia require a permit for an air conditioner installation and an inspection once it's done, and that inspection is what confirms the unit was put in correctly at your address.
Source: Georgia Secretary of State
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size comes from a load calculation, not a rule of thumb based on square footage. A contractor will look at your insulation, your windows, your ceiling height, and how much shade your house gets before landing on a number. An oversized unit cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the humidity out, so the house feels clammy even at the right temperature. With summer afternoons here averaging 89°F, that sizing step matters more than usual since the unit runs hard for five months straight.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your indoor coil and outdoor unit were installed together and matched to each other, replacing only the outdoor unit can throw off that match and hurt both efficiency and cooling. A mismatched system can also run into problems getting warrantied properly. If the indoor coil is old or was sized for the old unit, most contractors will tell you replacing both at once is the safer path. A contractor looking at the actual age and condition of your coil can tell you whether it's worth keeping.
- Do HVAC contractors in Covington need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. Georgia requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license, issued by the State Construction Industry Licensing Board. Ask to see the license number before work starts, and you can verify it against the board's records.