AC Installation in Quincy, IL
A new air conditioner in Quincy will run from June through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Adams County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
What summer in Quincy asks of a new air conditioner
Quincy homes need cooling from June through September, four months straight. Summer afternoons average 85°F, so a new system has to hold that line day after day, not just handle the occasional hot spell.
Adams County has logged 33 hail events and 48 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail as large as 4.5 inches. The outdoor unit is the part exposed to that. Any system installed new has to meet a federal minimum of 13.4 SEER2, so the efficiency floor is already set. What is left to decide is how well the unit and the installation hold up outside.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 85°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 33 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 Adams County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Adams 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 Adams County, that means there is no state board testing or licensing HVAC contractors, and no state record to check. Some cities and towns run their own licensing, others don't, so whether a contractor is licensed at all depends on the municipality, not the state.
For an air conditioner installation, the protection here comes from the permit process instead of a license. Most local building offices require a permit for this kind of job, and an inspector checks the work once it's in, including the electrical connections and the refrigerant lines.
Source: Illinois General Assembly
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size depends on your home's square footage, layout, insulation, window count, and how much shade it gets, not on a simple chart. A contractor works this out with a load calculation that looks at the whole house, not just its floor area. An oversized unit cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls enough moisture out, so rooms feel clammy. Undersized, it runs constantly on the hottest afternoons and still can't keep up. Have a contractor calculate the load for your specific house rather than going by the size of the old unit.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- In most cases, if the outdoor unit is failing, the indoor coil should be replaced with it. Manufacturers match the outdoor condenser and indoor coil as a pair. Mixing an old coil with a new condenser can mean the system never reaches its rated efficiency. Older systems also use a different refrigerant than new condensers are built to run on. A contractor can look at the age and condition of your indoor coil and tell you whether it can carry on with a new outdoor unit or whether both need to go.
- Do HVAC contractors in Quincy need a state license to work on my home?
- Illinois does not license HVAC contractors at the state level for residential work. That is left to individual cities and towns, so whether a license is required where you live depends on local rules. Check with your city to see if it requires one before you hire someone.