AC Installation in Myrtle Beach, SC
A new air conditioner in Myrtle Beach will run from May through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Horry County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
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Five months of real heat, every year
Your air conditioner works from May through September here, with summer afternoons averaging 89°F. That is five straight months of long, hot runtimes, not a burst of a few hot weeks.
Horry County has also seen 111 damaging wind events and 49 hail events over the past ten years, with hail as large as 2.75 inches. An outdoor condenser sits exposed to all of it. Any new central air conditioner installed today has to meet a federal minimum of 14.3 SEER2, so the baseline efficiency is set. What matters beyond that is a unit and installation that can stand up to a Myrtle Beach summer and whatever comes with it.
- 5 months
- May through September, your air conditioner is on duty
- 89°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 49 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 Horry County home, from EIA household energy data, South Carolina fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size comes from a load calculation, not a chart based on square footage. A contractor measures your windows, insulation, ceiling height, and how much shade your house gets, then figures out how many BTUs your house actually loses and gains. An oversized unit cools the air fast then shuts off before it pulls the moisture out, so the house feels damp even at the right temperature. With five months of real cooling load here, from May through September, and summer afternoons averaging 89°F, getting this number right matters more than it does somewhere with a shorter season.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your indoor coil and outdoor unit were installed together and matched to each other, replacing only the outdoor unit throws that match off. The compressor ends up working against a coil sized for different refrigerant flow, and it can run poorly or wear out early. A contractor will check the age and condition of the indoor coil before pricing anything, and if it's near the end of its life anyway, replacing both at once is usually the better call. A contractor can look at what you have and tell you whether the coil is worth keeping.
- Do HVAC contractors in Myrtle Beach need a state license to work on my home?
- A licensed contractor is what you want working on your central air system, and asking to see that license before work starts is a fair question to ask anyone who shows up at your door. It tells you the person has met the standards required to do this work and carries the insurance that protects you if something goes wrong. New central air conditioners installed here now also have to meet a federal efficiency minimum of 14.3 SEER2, so a licensed contractor should be able to explain how the unit they are proposing meets that.