An outdoor air conditioning condenser unit positioned on a concrete pad next to a blue-sided house, surrounded by green shrubs and flowering hydrangeas at sunset.

AC Installation in Syracuse, NY

A new air conditioner in Syracuse will run from July through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Onondaga County will get in touch.

Tell us about the job

It takes about a minute.

Step 1 of 3: Equipment

What kind of equipment?*

Aerial view of a gray outdoor air conditioning condenser unit mounted on a concrete pad next to a house with vinyl siding.

Two months of real heat, then it sits

Syracuse only calls for cooling in July and August, with summer afternoons averaging 79°F. A new system still has to be sized right for those two months, since that is when it will run hardest and the rest of the year it just sits.

Any new central air conditioner installed here now has to meet 13.4 SEER2, the federal minimum. That is the baseline, not an upgrade you pay extra for.

2 months: July through August, your air conditioner is on duty
79°F: the average summer afternoon it cools against
15 hail events: in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
13.4 SEER2: the federal minimum any new unit must meet

Isometric cutaway illustration of a single-story house showing interior ductwork and an air handler connected by lines to an outdoor condenser unit on a pad beside the building.

Your air conditioner works hardest from July through August.

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NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals

Overhead view of an air conditioning condenser unit on a concrete pad next to a house with asphalt shingle roofing and vinyl siding.

Going above the federal minimum saves little here, about $20 a year.

A higher-efficiency unit$140 a year
A new unit at the federal minimum, 13.4 SEER2$160 a year

Estimates for a typical Onondaga County home, from EIA household energy data, New York fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.

What size air conditioner does my house need?: The right size depends on your square footage, your insulation, how many windows you have, and which way they face, so no one can give you a number without looking at the house. A contractor works this out with a load calculation, not a chart based on square footage alone. Going bigger than what the calculation calls for is not a safety margin. An oversized unit cools the air fast and shuts off before it pulls the humidity out of the room, so the house feels clammy even with the AC running. Too small and it runs the whole afternoon and still cannot keep up. Ask whoever quotes the job to walk you through the load calculation before they tell you a tonnage.
Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?: If your indoor coil and furnace are near the end of their life too, replacing just the outdoor unit usually costs you twice over. The outdoor condenser and the indoor coil are matched to work together. Pairing a new condenser with an old coil can leave you without the efficiency or the warranty you paid for. Older systems also used a refrigerant that new equipment cannot run on, so a straight swap is not always possible. A contractor can look at the age and condition of both halves and tell you whether the indoor coil is worth keeping.
Do HVAC contractors in Syracuse need a state license to work on my home?: Ask to see a license before you sign anything, and confirm it is current. A licensed contractor also carries insurance, which matters if something goes wrong during installation. Anyone doing the work in your home should be able to show you both without hesitation.

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