AC Installation in Trenton, NJ
A new air conditioner in Trenton will run from June through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Mercer County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Four months of real heat in Trenton
Summer afternoons here average 85°F, and that runs from June through September. A new air conditioner has to hold a house steady through all of it, not just get through a hot week here and there.
Mercer County has also seen its share of hail and wind over the past ten years, so whatever unit goes in needs to sit up to that. Any central air conditioner installed new today has to meet a federal minimum of 13.4 SEER2, and that's the baseline to expect, not an upgrade.
- 4 months
- June through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 85°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 23 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 Mercer County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Mercer County home, from EIA household energy data, New Jersey fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
New Jersey requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The state board tests the contractor before issuing that license, and the license covers the contractor, not each job, so the same one applies to this installation and every other job the contractor takes on. New Jersey sets this rule at the state level, so no city or town in Mercer County can require its own separate HVAC license.
For this installation, the permit comes from the local building office, not the state license. Most cities and counties require a permit before an air conditioner is installed, and an inspection once the work is done, and that inspection is what checks the job itself rather than the contractor's record.
Sources: New Jersey Legislature · New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- There is no single answer without looking at your house. A contractor works this out from your square footage, your insulation, how many windows you have and which way they face, and your ceiling height. An oversized unit cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the humidity down, so the house feels damp. An undersized one runs constantly and still cannot keep up on your hottest days. Ask for a load calculation, not just a swap for whatever size is out there now.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your outdoor unit is original to the house and the indoor coil is old too, replacing just the outdoor unit often causes problems. The outdoor unit and the indoor coil are matched to work together, and pairing a new unit with an old coil can mean it never runs at the efficiency it is rated for. It can also void the manufacturer's warranty on the new equipment. A contractor can check the age and condition of your indoor coil and tell you whether it makes sense to replace one part or both.
- Do HVAC contractors in Trenton need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes. New Jersey requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license, issued through the State Board of Examiners of Heating, Ventilating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors. Trenton cannot add its own separate license requirement on top of that, since New Jersey does not let cities and towns do that. You will also need a permit from the local building office for a new air conditioner installation, and the work gets inspected once it is done.