AC Installation in Burlington, VT
A new air conditioner in Burlington will run from July through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Chittenden County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Two months of real work a year
Burlington asks less of an air conditioner than most places. Summer afternoons average 77°F, and homes here only need cooling from July through August. That's a short season, but the unit still has to be sized and installed right for the days it does run.
A new central air conditioner installed here has to meet 13.4 SEER2, the federal minimum since 2023. Chittenden County has also seen its share of damaging wind and hail over the past ten years, so where the outdoor unit sits and how it's mounted matters as much as the equipment itself.
- 2 months
- July through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 77°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
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
A higher-efficiency unit would save about $30 a year to run in Chittenden County compared with a new unit at the federal minimum.
Estimates for a typical Chittenden County home, from EIA household energy data, Vermont fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Vermont has no state license for HVAC contractors.
There is no state list of approved HVAC contractors here, and no state exam behind the name on the truck. That is true whether the job is a furnace, an air conditioner, a heat pump or a water heater. Nothing gets filed with Vermont before someone starts work in your house.
For an air conditioner installation, the protection comes from the local building office instead. Most cities and counties require a permit for this job, and an inspection once it is done. That inspection is what checks the work here, not a license.
Source: Vermont Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire Safety
- 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, not just the size of your house. An undersized unit will run constantly and never quite cool the place on a hot afternoon. An oversized one cools too fast, shuts off before it pulls the humidity out of the air, and leaves rooms feeling damp. A contractor will run a load calculation on your actual house to get this number right, and that is worth doing since summer afternoons here average 77°F and the unit only has July and August to prove itself.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your indoor coil and outdoor unit are different ages or different efficiency levels, replacing just the outdoor unit usually causes problems. The two are matched at the factory to work together, and pairing an old coil with a new condenser can mean poor cooling, higher energy use, or a system that trips on protection controls. A contractor can look at both pieces and tell you whether the coil is still compatible. If your system is old enough that the outdoor unit is failing, the coil is usually close behind it.
- Do HVAC contractors in Burlington need a state license to work on my home?
- No. Vermont has no state license or registration for HVAC contractors doing home work. That does not mean the job goes unchecked. Installing an air conditioner typically needs a permit from the local building office, and the work gets inspected once it is done. Ask any contractor you're considering how they handle the permit before work starts.