AC Installation in Oakes, ND
A new air conditioner in Oakes will run from June through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Dickey County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Three months of real heat, then it stops
Oakes only asks a central air conditioner to work June through August. Summer afternoons average 79°F, which is warm but not brutal, so the unit you install doesn't need to fight extreme heat for long stretches. It just needs to hold up.
That part matters more here than the heat does. Dickey County has logged 39 hail events and 36 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail up to 3.75 inches. The outdoor unit sits outside through all of that, so the condenser coil and cabinet take the brunt of any storm that comes through. Any new central air conditioner installed today has to meet 13.4 SEER2, the federal efficiency minimum that took effect in 2023.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 79°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 39 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 Dickey County home, from EIA household energy data, North Dakota fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
North Dakota requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license belongs to the contractor, not to any one job. North Dakota records who they are and holds them accountable across their work, not sign-off on your installation in particular. There is also a line set at $4,000. Work under that amount does not need a licensed contractor at all. An air conditioner installation is likely to cost more than that, which puts this job under the licensing rule.
The license is what stands behind the person doing the work here. It is not the only check on this job, though. Most cities and counties also require a permit from the local building office for an air conditioner installation, with an inspection once the work is done. That inspection is where someone outside the contractor's own crew looks at the wiring and the setup of the unit.
Sources: North Dakota Legislative Branch · North Dakota Secretary of State
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size depends on your home's square footage, how much shade it gets, how well it's insulated, and how many windows it has, so there's no single number that fits every house. A contractor works this out with a load calculation, not a chart based on square footage alone. Putting in a unit that's too big cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the humidity out, which leaves the house feeling damp. Too small, and it runs constantly on a 79°F afternoon and still can't keep up.
- Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
- If your furnace or air handler is old too, replacing just the outdoor unit usually isn't the better move. The outdoor unit and the indoor coil are matched to work together, and pairing a new condenser with an old coil can mean it never runs at the efficiency it's rated for. A contractor can check the age and condition of the indoor coil and tell you whether it's worth keeping.
- Do HVAC contractors in Oakes need a state license to work on my home?
- Yes, North Dakota requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license, and that covers installing a new air conditioner. The license is issued to the contractor by the Secretary of State, not to each individual job. Smaller jobs are exempt from this requirement, but a contractor can tell you whether that applies to yours. Your city or county will also likely require a permit and a final inspection once the unit is in.