AC Installation in Santa Fe, NM
A new air conditioner in Santa Fe will run from July through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Santa Fe County will get in touch.
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Santa Fe County doesn't ask much of an air conditioner
Summers here are short. Homes need cooling from July through August, just two months a year, with afternoons averaging 84°F. That's a light load compared to most of the country, and a new system sized right for this climate won't run near as hard as one somewhere with a longer, hotter season.
What matters more here is what's outside the box. Santa Fe County has seen 62 hail events and 187 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail up to 2.5 inches recorded. The outdoor unit sits exposed to that, so how it's installed and protected counts for more than how many months it runs. Any new central air conditioner installed today also has to meet the federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2.
- 2 months
- July through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 84°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 62 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 $0 a year.
Estimates for a typical Santa Fe County home, from EIA household energy data, New Mexico fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
New Mexico requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The Construction Industries Division tests HVAC contractors before they can hold a license, and it keeps a record of who they are. That license covers the contractor as a whole, not this specific job.
For an air conditioner installation, that license is what stands behind the person doing the work. In most cities and counties, an installation like this also needs a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the work is finished. The permit and inspection cover the finished work itself, separate from the contractor's license.
Source: New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- It depends on your square footage, your ceiling height, how much shade your house gets, and how well it's insulated, so there's no number you can guess from the outside. A contractor works this out with a load calculation, not a rule of thumb like tons per square foot. Putting in one that's too big cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the moisture out, and one that's too small will run constantly and still not keep up on an 84 degree afternoon. Have the contractor size it to your house, not to the unit you had before.
- 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 a good match. The outdoor unit and the indoor coil are matched to work together, and pairing a new one with an old coil can mean it never reaches the efficiency it's rated for. New central air conditioners have to meet a 14.3 SEER2 minimum now, and that rating only holds if the whole system was designed to hit it. A contractor can look at the age and condition of what you have and tell you whether the coil and furnace are worth keeping.
- Do HVAC contractors in Santa Fe need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. New Mexico requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license, issued through the Construction Industries Division. The license is held by the contractor, not issued per job. You'll also need a permit from the local building office for an air conditioner installation, with an inspection once the work is done.