AC Installation in Beaver Dam, WI
A new air conditioner in Beaver Dam will run from June through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Dodge County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Three months of real heat, and hail to think about
Beaver Dam gets three months of cooling season, June through August, with afternoons averaging 80°F. That is not a long season, but it is a real one, and a new system still has to keep up on the hottest days of it.
Dodge County has also seen 37 hail events and 79 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail up to 1.25 inches. The outdoor unit sits outside through all of that, so how and where it gets installed matters as much as the equipment itself. Any new central air conditioner installed today also has to meet the federal efficiency minimum of 13.4 SEER2.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 80°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 37 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 Dodge County home, from EIA household energy data, Wisconsin fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
Wisconsin requires contractors to register with the state.
That registration puts the business on file with the Department of Safety and Professional Services. Nobody tests the contractor's trade knowledge to get it, and Wisconsin does not let counties or cities add their own HVAC license on top, so the registration is the only state record you get anywhere in Wisconsin.
For an air conditioner installation, the checking that happens comes from the local building office, not the state. In most cities and counties this job needs a permit before the work starts and an inspection once it is done, so someone looks at what was installed even though nobody tested the contractor who installed it.
Sources: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau · Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size comes from a load calculation, not a rule of thumb based on square footage. A contractor measures your walls, windows, insulation and duct layout to figure out how much heat your house gains on a summer afternoon. Going bigger than what the calculation calls for is not a safety margin, it is a problem. An oversized unit cools the air fast then shuts off before it pulls the moisture out, so the house feels clammy even at the right temperature.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your indoor coil and outdoor unit were installed together, replace them together. The coil and the outdoor unit are matched to work at a specific capacity and efficiency, and pairing a new outdoor unit with an old coil rarely gets you the SEER2 rating either piece was built 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 is worth keeping.
- Do HVAC contractors in Beaver Dam need a state license to work on my home?
- Wisconsin requires HVAC contractors to register with the state through the Department of Safety and Professional Services. Ask to see this before any work starts. It is a straightforward way to know you are dealing with someone accountable to the state, not just a name on a truck.