AC Installation in Colorado Springs, CO
A new air conditioner in Colorado Springs will run from July through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers El Paso County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Two months of real heat, and hail to plan around
Colorado Springs only asks for cooling in July and August, with afternoons averaging 83°F. That is a short season, but the unit still has to work when it runs, and it sits outside the other ten months too.
El Paso County has logged 717 hail events and 324 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hailstones as large as 4 inches. The outdoor unit is what takes that weather directly. Any new central air conditioner has to meet a federal minimum of 13.4 SEER2, so the efficiency question is mostly settled. What matters more here is whether the unit and the installation can hold up outside.
- 2 months
- July through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 83°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 717 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 El Paso 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?
- There is no single number that works for every house your size. Square footage matters, but so does how much insulation you have, how many windows you have and which way they face, and how your rooms are laid out. A contractor works this out with a load calculation done on your actual house. Get this step done right, because a unit that is too big or too small for the space will run poorly either way.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- That depends on whether your indoor coil can work with a new outdoor unit. Manufacturers match coils and condensers as a set, and pairing an old coil with a new condenser can hurt efficiency and sometimes voids the warranty on the new equipment. A contractor can check what you have and tell you whether the coil is still compatible or whether replacing both makes more sense for your system.
- Do HVAC contractors in Colorado Springs need a state license to work on my home?
- Ask to see a contractor's license before any work starts. Licensing requirements for HVAC work vary by state and by city, and a license means the contractor has met requirements for training and insurance. That matters if something goes wrong with the installation later, so it is worth confirming up front rather than after the job is done.