Sized for a Cambridge August, Not for the Badge on the Old Unit
A Cambridge afternoon peaks around 29 degrees, and the moisture that rides in with it is what really sets the size you need. Heat on its own is easy to beat. Water in the air is what makes a room feel like a cellar in August, and only a machine that runs long and steady pulls it back out.
Buy too much air conditioner and you get the opposite. It races to your setting, shuts off, and leaves the room cold and damp at the same time. So we measure the rooms instead and work out what your house is really asking for. On a summer this mild the answer often lands under the unit going out, and smaller costs less to buy and less to run every August after.
A long steady run dries the house out. A short burst only chills it. Our guide to choosing the right size air conditioner shows how we reach the number, and why the smaller one usually wins.
No Surprises on Install Day, Because We Check First
Four things decide how a cooling job runs in this city. We check all four while we are at your house, so nothing turns up on install morning that was not in the price.
No permit, so no City fee on your quote
Cambridge puts "Air conditioning units or heat pumps added to existing forced-air systems" on its own list of work that needs no building permit. That is the City's wording rather than our reading of it, and it keeps a fee and a wait off your job. New electrical work goes to the Electrical Safety Authority, and we file it.
A spot for the unit that suits you and the neighbour
The zoning by-law here lets an air conditioner sit beside or behind the house, just not in front. We walk the lot with you, keep the machine away from the window somebody sleeps behind, and price the run from where it will actually stand.
Quiet you can hear, not a number on a form
Cambridge sets no decibel limit for a home air conditioner anywhere in its noise by-law. So the quiet comes from the machine you buy and the spot we stand it in, which is the part we can control. On a narrow lot that is worth more to you than a cheaper box.
Your ducts looked at before the equipment is picked
Nearly half the homes in this city were finished by 1980, and their ducts were drawn for heating alone. We check what they can move before we choose a unit, because a strong machine on a starved return still leaves the upstairs warm in July.
We answer all four at the site visit, never on install morning with a truck already in the driveway. Our guide to air conditioner cost and installation covers the equipment side.
The Equipment We Actually Fit in Cambridge Homes
Single stage central air
It cools hard and then stops. On a house whose ducts already move air well that is enough, and it is the cheapest route to a cold living room.
Two stage or variable speed
Two stage means a low setting and a high one, so it spends most of August running gently instead of slamming on and off. That is what takes the stickiness out of the house, and it is the quiet one.
Ductless heads
One small unit outside, a head on the wall in each room, and no ducts anywhere. It is how an older Galt or Preston house gets cooling without anyone opening a finished ceiling.
Your ducts narrow this down before your budget does. The central air installation page shows the Lennox range we carry, and ductless mini split installation covers the house with nothing to connect to.
What Moves the Price, and What Never Moves After You Agree
We build the number after we have seen the house and the ground the unit will stand on. Most of it is labour, refrigerant lines and electrical rather than the box itself, which is why a figure given over the phone is a guess. If the furnace is the same vintage, say so and we will quote both together. The financing options page covers paying monthly.
The size your rooms actually ask for
Measured properly, the answer often lands under the unit coming out, and a smaller right-sized machine costs less to buy and less to run.
The low setting, and what it buys you
Single stage is the cheapest way in. One with a low setting costs more, holds the humidity down better and makes less noise doing it.
The run back to the furnace
A spot behind the house near the coil is one price. A corner of the lot, with refrigerant lines routed around the building, is another.
The coil and the box above your furnace
If the new coil will not sit in the box you have, we build sheet metal on the day. That is hours rather than parts.
The circuit and the disconnect
A panel with room to spare keeps this small. A fresh run from a full panel does not.
Clearance to the gas meter
Enbridge wants a metre between a condenser and the meter set. Finding that at the visit costs nothing. Finding it on install day costs a pad.
The spot the unit can stand in
Beside or behind the house is fine here and the front is not, so a tight side passage can change the plan. We confirm it before we write the price.
Why Cambridge Homeowners Call Us for Cooling
Over 10 years of cooling work around this region sits behind the quote. Five Best of Award wins from HomeStars sit behind it too, and homeowners vote for those rather than a trade panel. We are an Authorized Lennox Dealer, so the training and the parts come from the factory. Sina owns the business and he is the technician who turns up on most driveways. The person who sizes your system is the one who fits it, and the one who answers the phone next July.
Sina was great. He responded to my initial HomeStars request within 5 minutes, based on my description of the symptoms he quoted me a price to have my A/C back up and running same day... and when he got to the house he worked fast, smart and clean - couldn't ask for much more than that. Thanks again, will definitely hire again.
Shane, Cambridge, HomeStars review
From the Call to the Cold Air
We pick the spot with you at the site visit, never on install morning.
You tell us what you have now
Phone us, or send the form with your street, the age of the system and the room that never cools down.
We measure, then we walk the lot
Your technician sizes the system room by room, looks at what the ducts can move, and picks the spot for the outdoor unit with you.
Every line has a name
Equipment, capacity, placement, electrical and the labour. Nothing on the page has to be decoded later.
We fit it, then we prove it
The old unit comes out under recovery and leaves on our truck. We set the new one, charge it by weight and run a full cooling cycle before we pack up.
Common Questions About Cooling a Cambridge Home
Do I need a permit to add central air?
What will it cost?
Where will the outdoor unit go?
How loud will it be?
My house has no ducts. Is cooling out?
Should the furnace go in at the same time?
Where we fit air conditioners in Cambridge
From the streets around the three old cores to the newer subdivisions in the north end. Name your street and we will get a technician out to look at the house.
- Downtown Galt
- East Galt
- Eastview
- Elgin Park
- Glenview
- Lincoln Oaks
- Riverview
- Shades Mills
- Southwood
- St Andrews Hills
- Preston Centre
- Preston Heights
- Blair
- Central Park
- Langs Farm
- Riverside
- Downtown Hespeler
- Blackbridge
- Cambrian Hills
- Centennial
- Hillcrest
- River Flats
- Silverheights
- Beaverdale
- Chilligo
- Kossuth
- Maple Grove
- Royal Oak
Also in Cambridge: gas furnace installation and cold climate heat pumps, plus every service on our Cambridge HVAC page.
