Cost of a New Air Conditioner Unit in Arizona

Getting ready for the spring and summer heat in Arizona means prepping your A/C unit for the incoming waves of heat. However, if you’re dealing with an old unit, the best move may not be to fix it up but to invest in a full replacement before the full force of Arizona’s 106 degrees Fahrenheit summer rolls in with its full force.

In this case, you’ll need to know the real cost of a new forced-air heating system and what that means for your budget. That means knowing the ins and outs of not only the price tag of a new system but also all of the other details that impact the final cost as well.

The New Air Conditioning Unit

The price tag on the heating and cooling unit itself will, in most likelihood, be the first thing you take notice of when shopping for your options. The national average cost for buying and installing a brand new air conditioning unit is reported to be between $1,200 and $1,800, a hefty figure by most standards. Of course, these are just the average projections of new units. The air conditioner you choose could be well over or under the national average, depending on a wide range of variables.

In any event, it’s crucial to begin budgeting early if you believe there’s a need for a new air conditioning unit in your home or that the need will arise in the near future. After all, cooling units are not a luxury you can afford to live without in the Arizona heat. However, it’s not just this initial price tag you should pay attention to. Keeping a close eye on all the details is the best way to ensure you won’t be paying excessive amounts in energy costs after installation.

Average Installation Costs for your New Air Conditioner

Buying the new unit isn’t the end of the process. Before you can enjoy the cool air you’re buying, you’ll also need to pay for installation after choosing a team of trained professionals to handle the project. Nationwide, the average cost of installation tends to hover around $5,500, making up the bulk of the overall expense. Again, this is merely the average cost of installation, and your actual cost will depend largely on the amount of work that needs to be done, including:

• The size and type of the A/C unit you’re installing
• The team you choose to work with
• Any ductwork that needs to be done for the new unit to work

In turn, these variables are subject to variables of their own. For example, if you need to redo your ductwork, the size of your home will have a direct impact on the hike in price in your overall installation fee. The best way to get an accurate estimate of your final price before you begin the project is to schedule an assessment with a team of professionals that knows all the details to look for from the very start.

Efficiency

Aside from the initial cost and installation of your new unit, the air conditioner’s efficiency rating is going to be the next largest thing you’ll want to consider as a part of the overall price tag. This is the detail that determines whether your new A/C unit or furnace is essentially going to pay for itself over the coming years or if it’s simply going to drain your wallet month after month as you fight off the Arizona heat. To get the best deal on efficiency, you’ll need to look at its Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating (SEER). This rating system was established in 2006 and helped homeowners choose the best, most efficient option for their homes.

The higher the SEER score of a unit, the more efficient it is. It’s estimated that for every one-point increase in the score, the machine in question reduced monthly energy costs by around 10 percent, which, when considering your

A/C will likely be running almost year-round in an AZ home, which means significant savings with each point bump. The majority of modern air conditioners have a score ranging from between 13 to 21, but in order to get the best performance while battling the year-round heat, you should look for a unit with a rating of at least 20. This ensures that, though the cost of your initial purchase may be higher, your energy bills in the years to come cost you as little as possible.

Get an Estimate

There’s no surefire way to nail down a concrete price on the cost of buying and installing a new heating and cooling system on your own, so if you want a solid estimate, get in touch with the pros. Contact Howard Air to learn more about keeping your home cool in the Arizona heat and how much it’ll cost you to get a top-of-the-line installation in your own home before the mild winter heat turns into blistering spring and searing summer.

Image Credit: Shutterstock By John Royal