AC Installation in Hermiston, OR
A new air conditioner in Hermiston will run from July through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Umatilla County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Two months of real heat, and hail to think about
Hermiston only needs cooling for July and August, but those afternoons average 81°F. A new system has to handle that load right from the start, since there's no long shoulder season to break it in.
Umatilla County has seen 15 hail events and 77 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hailstones up to 2 inches. The outdoor unit sits outside through all of that, so where it's placed and how it's protected matters. Any new central air conditioner installed today has to meet a federal minimum of 13.4 SEER2, so efficiency is already built into what you're offered.
- 2 months
- July through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 81°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 15 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
A higher-efficiency unit would save about $30 a year to run in Umatilla County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Umatilla 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.
Oregon's Construction Contractors Board licenses the contractor, not the job. The state tested the person or company doing the work and keeps a record of them, but that license does not attach to your specific installation. Work under $1,000 falls outside the requirement, though installing an air conditioner runs well past that.
For this job, the license tells you the contractor is who they say they are. The permit is what covers the install itself. Most cities and counties in Oregon require a permit to replace an air conditioner, with an inspection once the work is done, and that inspection is what checks the wiring and the refrigerant lines were done right, separate from whatever the state already knows about the contractor's license.
Source: Oregon Legislative Assembly
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- It depends on your house, not just its square footage. A contractor sizes the unit using a load calculation that accounts for your insulation, window area, ceiling height, and duct layout. An oversized unit cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls humidity out of the house, and an undersized one runs constantly on the hot afternoons and still can't keep up. Skip any answer that gives you a size before looking at the house.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your furnace or air handler is old, replacing just the outdoor unit can cause problems even if it seems to fit. The indoor and outdoor units are matched to work together, and pairing a new condenser with an old coil often means the system never reaches the efficiency either piece was built for. A contractor can check the age and condition of the indoor unit and tell you whether it can pair with new equipment or whether both need to go at once.
- Do HVAC contractors in Hermiston need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. Oregon requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license, issued through the Construction Contractors Board, and installing an air conditioner falls under that requirement. The license is held by the contractor, not tied to any single job. Most cities and counties also require a permit and inspection for an AC installation, so ask whoever quotes the job how they handle that step.