AC Installation in The Dalles, OR
A new air conditioner in The Dalles will run from July through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Wasco County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Two months of real heat, then it sits idle
The Dalles only asks a new air conditioner to work July and August, with afternoons averaging around 80°F. That is a short, hard season. The unit gets little time to prove itself before it goes quiet for the other ten months.
Wasco County also sees its share of hail and wind, with 43 damaging wind events recorded over the past ten years and hail up to 1.75 inches. An outdoor condenser sits exposed to that, so where it goes and how it is protected matters as much as its size. Any new central air conditioner installed today has to meet a federal minimum of 13.4 SEER2, so that efficiency level is the starting point, not an upgrade.
- 2 months
- July through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 80°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 3 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 Wasco County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Wasco 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 individual job. That license is on file with the state and stays tied to the business, so it covers every job they do, including this one. Work under $1,000 is the one exception the state carves out, and an AC installation runs well past that.
Because Oregon licenses the contractor, that license is what stands behind the work on your air conditioner. On top of that, most cities and counties in Oregon require a permit for an installation like this, with an inspection once the work is done, which gives you a second check from the local building office beyond the state license itself.
Source: Oregon Legislative Assembly
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size comes from a load calculation, not the square footage of your house. A contractor looks at your windows, insulation, ceiling height, and how much sun your walls get before landing on a tonnage. Too big and it cools the air fast but never runs long enough to pull the humidity down. Too small and it runs constantly and still can't keep up on an afternoon in the 80s. Summers here don't get extreme, but the same rule holds. The unit has to match the house, not a rule of thumb.
- 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. The indoor and outdoor parts are matched to work together, and pairing a new condenser with an old evaporator coil often means the system never reaches its rated efficiency. It can also void the warranty on the new equipment. A contractor can check the age and condition of what's inside before deciding whether the whole system needs to go.
- Do HVAC contractors in The Dalles 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 in your home falls under that requirement. The license is held by the contractor, not issued job by job. Installing a new air conditioner also usually needs a permit from the local building office and an inspection once the work is finished, so ask whoever you hire whether they're pulling that permit.