AC Installation in Granite City, IL
A new air conditioner in Granite City will run from May through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Madison County will get in touch.
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Five months of real heat in Granite City
From May through September your air conditioner is what keeps the house livable. Summer afternoons here average 86°F, and that load sits on the system day after day for five straight months.
Granite City also sees its share of hail and wind. The last ten years brought 40 hail events and 86 damaging wind events, with hail up to 3.75 inches recorded. An outdoor condenser sits exposed to all of it, so the unit going in should be able to take a season like this one. Any new central air conditioner installed today has to meet 13.4 SEER2, the federal efficiency minimum, so that's the baseline no matter which system goes in.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 86°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 40 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 $40 a year to run in Madison County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Madison County home, from EIA household energy data, Illinois fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
In Illinois, HVAC licensing for homes is left to the cities and towns.
In Madison County, whether a contractor needs a license comes down to the city or township rule where the house sits. Some places license HVAC contractors on their own, some register them, and some have no rule at all. There is no state list to check against, because Illinois does not keep one for this trade.
What stands behind this job here is the permit and inspection most local building offices require for a new air conditioner. Someone from that office comes out and checks the installation once the work is done.
Source: Illinois General Assembly
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size depends on your square footage, ceiling height, insulation, window placement, and how much shade your house gets, so there is no number to give without looking at the house. A contractor works this out with a load calculation, not a chart based on square footage alone. An oversized unit cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the humidity out, which leaves the house feeling clammy. An undersized one runs constantly on those 86°F afternoons and still struggles to keep up.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your indoor and outdoor units are original to each other and one is failing, replacing both is usually the sounder move. Matching a new outdoor unit to an old indoor coil means the system runs at whatever efficiency the older part allows, not the rating on the new one's label. Many older coils also use a refrigerant that new outdoor units aren't built for, so the two parts may not even be compatible. A contractor can look at the age and condition of both pieces and tell you whether the indoor coil has enough life left to make a split replacement worth doing.
- Do HVAC contractors in Granite City need a state license to work on my home?
- Illinois does not license HVAC contractors at the state level for residential work. That is handled by individual cities and towns, so whether a license is required where you live depends on Granite City's own rules. It's worth checking with the city directly, or asking any contractor you're considering whether they hold one.