AC Installation in Bend, OR
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Bend doesn't ask much of an air conditioner
Summer afternoons here average just 77°F. Most homes in the area get by without needing to run cooling at all through the year. When you do want an air conditioner, the job it has to do is a light one compared to hotter parts of the country.
Any new central air conditioner installed today has to meet a federal minimum of 13.4 SEER2, so efficiency is built in regardless of how often the unit runs. The bigger thing worth planning for here is the outdoor unit itself. Deschutes County has seen 26 hail events and 24 damaging wind events over the past ten years, so where and how the condenser gets installed matters more than how hard it has to work.
- 77°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 26 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 $10 a year.
Estimates for a typical Deschutes County home, from EIA household energy data, Oregon fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Oregon requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Construction Contractors Board licenses the business, not each job. The license on file means the state tested this contractor and keeps a record of them, and that record stands behind whoever they send to your house. Oregon does carve out an exception for small work. Anything under $1,000 does not need a licensed contractor, but an air conditioner installation runs well past that figure, so this job needs one.
The license covers the contractor. It does not cover the installation itself, and that is where the local building office comes in. Most cities and counties require a permit for a job like this, with an inspection once the work is done, and that is a separate check from anything the state license accounts for.
Source: Oregon Legislative Assembly
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- It depends on your square footage, your windows, your insulation and how your house holds heat, not just floor area. A contractor works this out with a load calculation rather than a rule of thumb. Bend summer afternoons average 77°F, which is mild compared to a lot of the country, so an oversized unit here will short cycle without giving you any real benefit. Getting the size right matters more than getting a bigger unit.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your indoor coil and outdoor unit were installed together and matched for each other, replacing only the outdoor unit can leave you with a mismatched system that runs poorly and wears out faster. New units also have to meet the federal minimum of 13.4 SEER2, and an old indoor coil may not pair well with a new outdoor unit built to that standard. A contractor can look at the age and condition of both parts and tell you whether swapping just one makes sense for your system.
- Do HVAC contractors in Bend need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. Oregon requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license through the Construction Contractors Board, and installing an air conditioner is well above the work Oregon allows without one. The license covers the contractor, not the individual job, so it's worth confirming before work starts. You'll also need a permit from the local building office and an inspection once the installation is done.