Sizing the Air Conditioner to Your Rooms
The size is the one decision on this quote that outlasts everything else on it. If we copied it from the label on your old condenser, you would inherit a figure somebody estimated fifteen years ago, usually larger than your rooms need.
An oversized air conditioner gives you the opposite of what you paid for. It reaches your setting within a few minutes, stops, and never runs long enough to pull the moisture out of the air, so August still feels sticky indoors. A unit sized from the measurements runs for longer at a lower output, and that is what dries the house.
A larger unit cools faster and dries less, which is how a room can read 22 degrees and still feel clammy. If that sounds like your house, a humid house with the air conditioner running explains what we look at.
We Choose the Spot Outside With You
Placement is the detail that causes arguments on installation day, so we agree it with you while we are still quoting.
The distance back to the indoor coil
Every metre of line between the outdoor unit and the coil above your furnace costs labour and material. We measure that route while we are quoting, so the distance is already in your price.
The well and the septic bed on a country lot
Most properties in this township run on a private well and a tile bed, and the Township's own site sketch asks where each one sits. A concrete pad is the hardest thing to move later, so we locate both first.
The noise rule here is about upkeep rather than placement
Wilmot's noise by-law names an air conditioner and a heat pump, but only one that is not in proper working order. It sets no decibel limit, no setback and no quiet hours. A neighbour complains about an old or neglected machine, not about one we commissioned last week.
The downtown heritage district
The heritage district in the old core is small, about 32 properties, and inside it any exterior alteration needs a heritage permit. That includes an outdoor unit and an opening through a wall, so we take it to the planning staff before we book a date. Most addresses here sit outside the district.
We answer all four at the house rather than on the morning the truck arrives. The Township directs electrical work to the Electrical Safety Authority rather than to its own inspectors, and that paperwork is ours.
Three Ways to Cool the House
Single stage, which means one speed
Every time it starts, it runs at full output until the thermostat is satisfied, then stops. Where the ductwork already moves air well, it cools the house perfectly and nothing cheaper does the same.
Two stage, which means a low and a high output
It spends most of the summer on the low setting, runs for longer, and keeps pulling moisture out of the air while it does. The house feels comfortable at 24 degrees instead of 22, and the outdoor unit runs quieter.
Wall heads, which need no ductwork
One small unit outside feeds a head in each room that needs one. In a brick house in the old part of town, where nobody ever ran a duct upstairs, this is the only option that reaches the bedrooms.
The ductwork decides this more often than the budget does, and we will tell you which of the three suits your house before we quote. Our central air installation page shows what we fit, and ductless mini split installation is how we cool a second floor that was never ducted.
What Sets the Price of a Cooling Installation
We price this after we have seen the lot and the basement, because the machine is rarely the biggest line on the page. If the furnace is near the end as well, tell us and we will quote both at once, which opens the sheet metal once instead of twice. Our financing options page covers paying monthly.
The size the measurements point to
We take the size from your rooms, so it can sit a step below the machine going out or a step above it. Either way you live with that decision for fifteen summers.
One output, or a low setting as well
The cheapest machine and the quietest machine are two different purchases, and the difference between them pays for the low setting that dries the house.
The part of the lot it stands on
A spot at the back close to the coil costs one price, and a long run around a narrow lot costs another. On a country property the well and the septic bed narrow the choice before we do.
The metal box above the furnace
The new coil has to drop into it. If it will not fit, we cut and rebuild the box on the day, and that is labour rather than parts.
The sound level you choose
Nothing in the township's rules sets a sound limit, so quiet is a choice rather than a requirement. Beside a bedroom window on a narrow lot it is worth paying for, and we will tell you which models are the quiet ones.
The circuit behind it
If your panel has a spare breaker of the right size, this line stays small. A new run from a panel with nothing free costs more.
Anything added to the same visit
A smart thermostat or a filter cabinet costs less while the system is open than as a separate visit.
Who Installs It, and Who You Call in July
Sina owns the company and is the technician on most of these driveways, so the person who chooses the spot for your outdoor unit is the person who comes back to service it. We are an Authorized Lennox Dealer, we have been cooling houses around here for more than 10 years, and homeowners have voted us five HomeStars Best of Award wins.
Within hours of receiving my call, these guys had been on site to inspect a failing air conditioner and ordered parts needed for its replacement. Price seemed fair. I would recommend them/use them again in the future.
Kyle Trainor, Google review
The Four Steps of a Cooling Installation
We settle the spot outside while we are quoting, so installation day holds no surprises.
Tell us how last summer went
Phone us, or use the form to tell us the age of the system, which rooms stay warmest, and whether the machine outside has started making noise.
We size it, and you choose the spot
A technician measures your rooms one by one, checks how much air the ductwork can move, and settles with you where the outdoor unit will stand.
The price arrives on one page
Your quote names the equipment, the capacity, where the unit will stand and the labour behind it, each on its own line.
We fit it, then we hand it over
We recover the refrigerant from the old machine and take it away on the truck. We set and connect the new one, charge it by weight, and leave it running with you.
Cooling Questions From New Hamburg Homeowners
Where is the outdoor unit allowed to go?
Do I need a permit to add central air?
How loud will it be, and will the neighbours mind?
My house is in the old core. Does the heritage district apply to me?
My brick house has no ducts upstairs. Can you still cool it?
Can you do the furnace on the same visit?
Where we fit air conditioners around New Hamburg
A village lot with a neighbour close on one side and a farm property with fields behind it give us very different choices about where the outdoor unit goes. Tell us which road you are on when you call and we will book the visit.
- Downtown New Hamburg
- Stonecroft
- Baden
- Mannheim
- New Dundee
- Shingletown
- St. Agatha
- Petersburg
- Philipsburg
- Wilmot Centre
- Haysville
- Luxemburg
- Lisbon
- Sunfish Lake
- Foxboro Green
- Josephsburg
- New Prussia
- Holland Mills
- Pinehill
- Punkeydoodle's Corners
- Rosebank
- Waldau
We also install these systems in New Hamburg: gas furnace installation and heat pump installation. Our New Hamburg HVAC page carries the full list.
