Colorado HVAC Pros
Aerial view of a gray outdoor air conditioning condenser unit mounted on a concrete pad next to a house with vinyl siding.

AC Installation in Castle Rock, CO

A new air conditioner in Castle Rock will run from July through July every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Douglas County will get in touch.

Tell us about the job

It takes about a minute.

Step 1 of 3: Equipment
An overhead view of a residential air conditioning condenser unit mounted on a concrete pad next to a house with vinyl siding.

Castle Rock doesn't ask much of your air conditioner, until a storm does

Summer afternoons here average 81°F, and July is really the only month your air conditioner has to work hard. That's a short season compared to a lot of the country, which means a new system spends most of the year sitting idle.

The bigger thing to plan for is what's overhead. Douglas County has logged 158 hail events and 97 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail up to 2.5 inches recorded. A condenser sits outside year round, and its coil and fan are exposed to whatever comes through. Any new install should account for that, not just the summer heat. If you're installing new, the unit also has to meet the current federal minimum of 13.4 SEER2.

1 months
July through July, your air conditioner is on duty
81°F
the average summer afternoon it cools against
158 hail events
in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
13.4 SEER2
the federal minimum any new unit must meet
Isometric grey illustration of a cutaway single-story house showing interior rooms, ceiling ductwork connected to an indoor air handler, and an outdoor condenser unit linked by lines outside the wall.
Your air conditioner works hardest from July through July.

NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals

Overhead view of an air conditioning condenser unit on a concrete pad next to a house with asphalt shingle roofing and vinyl siding.

Going above the federal minimum saves little here, about $20 a year.

  • A higher-efficiency unit$110 a year
  • A new unit at the federal minimum, 13.4 SEER2$130 a year

Estimates for a typical Douglas County home, from EIA household energy data, Colorado fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.

What size air conditioner does my house need?
It depends on your square footage, your layout, your insulation, and how many windows you have facing the sun. A contractor sizes it with a load calculation, not a chart based on home size alone. Going bigger than what the calculation says is a mistake. 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.
Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
If your indoor coil and furnace are old too, replacing just the outdoor unit usually isn't the better move. The outdoor unit and indoor coil are matched to work together, and pairing a new one with an old coil can mean you never get the efficiency or the reliability you're paying for. A contractor can look at the age and condition of both halves and tell you whether a full system swap makes more sense. With Castle Rock summers only running hot for a short stretch, either way you want the system dialed in before that window hits.
Do HVAC contractors in Castle Rock need a state license to work on my home?
Yes, anyone installing or working on your air conditioner needs to be licensed. Ask to see the license before work starts, and confirm it covers the type of job you need done. This protects you if something goes wrong with the installation later.
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