AC Installation in Minneapolis, MN
A new air conditioner in Minneapolis will run from June through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Hennepin County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Three months of real work, then long stretches of rest
Cooling season in Hennepin County runs June through August, with summer afternoons averaging 80°F. A new air conditioner here spends most of the year sitting idle, then has to work through three months of steady heat without a break to catch up on.
Hail and wind are the bigger risk to the unit outside. The area has logged 132 hail events and 142 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail up to 3 inches recorded. An outdoor condenser sits exposed to both, so where it's placed and how it's protected matters as much as the equipment itself. Any new central air conditioner installed today also has to meet the federal efficiency minimum of 13.4 SEER2.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 80°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 132 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 $20 a year.
Estimates for a typical Hennepin County home, from EIA household energy data, Minnesota fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Minnesota has no state license for HVAC contractors.
Minnesota does not test or register HVAC contractors, so there is no state license number to check and no state record of who this contractor is. That does not change for an air conditioner installation. The state leaves this trade unlicensed altogether, the same way it does for every home in Minnesota.
What stands in for that here is the permit process. In most cities and counties, putting in a new air conditioner needs a permit from the local building office, and the work gets inspected once it is done. That inspection is what checks the installation was done right, since nothing at the state level is doing that.
Source: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size depends on your square footage, how much shade and sun your walls and windows get, your insulation, and the layout of your ductwork. A unit that's too big cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the humidity out, so rooms feel clammy. Too small, and it runs nonstop on the hot afternoons without keeping up. A contractor works this out with a load calculation on your actual house, not a chart based on square feet alone.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your indoor coil and outdoor unit weren't installed together, replacing just the outdoor unit can cause problems. The coil and the condenser are matched to work at the same capacity and refrigerant charge, and pairing a new condenser with an old coil often means the system never runs the way it's rated to. Age matters too. If the indoor coil is old enough that it's close to needing replacement anyway, doing both at once can make more sense than paying for a second job later. A contractor can look at what you have and tell you whether the coil is a match for a new condenser.
- Do HVAC contractors in Minneapolis need a state license to work on my home?
- No. Minnesota has no state license or registration for HVAC contractors doing home work. That doesn't mean nobody checks the job. In most cities and counties, replacing an air conditioner needs a permit from the local building office, and the work gets inspected once it's done.