AC Installation in Rapid City, SD
A new air conditioner in Rapid City will run from June through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Pennington County will get in touch.
Tell us about the job
It takes about a minute.
Three months of real heat, and a lot of hail in between
Summers around Rapid City run about three months, June through August, with afternoons averaging 82°F. That is not a long season, but a new air conditioner still has to be sized to keep up on the hottest days in it, not just coast through the mild ones.
Pennington County has logged 673 hail events and 420 damaging wind events over the past ten years, with hail up to 4.5 inches recorded. The condenser sits outside through all of that, so the cabinet and coil fins on a new unit take the brunt of it. Any new central air conditioner installed today has to meet the federal efficiency minimum of 13.4 SEER2.
- 3 months
- June through August, your air conditioner is on duty
- 82°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
- 673 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 Pennington County home, from EIA household energy data, South Dakota fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
In South Dakota, HVAC licensing for homes is left to the cities and towns.
South Dakota leaves the rule to whichever city or town the house sits in, so whether a license is required for this job depends on where in Pennington County the house is.
What is consistent no matter the address is the permit. Most cities and counties in South Dakota require a permit to install an air conditioner, with an inspection once the work is done, and that inspection is what checks the installation here.
Source: South Dakota Legislature
- What size air conditioner does my house need?
- The right size depends on your square footage, how much shade and window area you have, your insulation, and your ceiling height, not just the size of your old unit. A contractor works this out with a load calculation, room by room, rather than guessing off a chart. Putting in one that's too big cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the humidity down, and one that's too small will run constantly on the hot afternoons here and still not keep up. Have a contractor size it for your house specifically.
- 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 can cause problems. The outdoor unit and the indoor coil are matched to work together, and pairing a new one with an old coil often means you don't get the efficiency or the cooling you paid for, and some manufacturers won't warranty the mismatch. A contractor can tell you whether your existing coil and airflow will work with a new outdoor unit or whether the whole system needs to come out together.
- Do HVAC contractors in Rapid City need a state license to work on my home?
- South Dakota doesn't issue a state HVAC license. Licensing for this kind of work is handled by cities and towns, so whether it's required and what it takes depends on where the house is. In most cities and counties, installing an air conditioner also needs a permit from the local building office and an inspection once the work is finished.