Free estimate
Air conditioning installation and replacement
Chinook tests the system you have, sizes the new one to your home, and hauls the old equipment away.
Chapter 01
When a new system beats one more repair
Every air conditioner reaches the end of its useful life. Chinook's guide is plain: a system that is 15 years old or more, needs frequent repairs, or struggles to hold a temperature is a candidate for replacement. The payoff they list is cooler air, lower electric bills, fewer hot spots and less noise.
Homes change around their equipment, too. Windows lose their tight seal, doors warp, and a closed-in porch or a new addition gives the old unit a job it was never sized for. Chinook says a new system is much more efficient than one even ten years old.
Age is not the only trigger. If the equipment is only at half its recommended lifetime, a retrofit may be what it needs to expand capacity and cool the far rooms more evenly. And when a house is going on the market, the question buyers ask is still how old the A/C is.
A new American Standard heat pump standing in the bed of a Chinook truck on a new-build lot
How the crew tests, sizes and installs
The first step is a test of what you already have. A Chinook technician checks your current system, identifies its problems and gives recommendations. Your home's square footage, energy use and the cost of the system all go into sizing the replacement, so the new unit fits the house rather than the last one's nameplate.
In Amy's case, which is told below, the technician laid out a Good, Better, Best set of choices and made sure she understood each one before she picked. The install day itself: the crew preps the house to keep the job clean, removes the old equipment and hauls it away, then sets, brazes, charges and wires the new equipment and programs the thermostat.
Chinook says most homeowners should expect the new system to be installed and operational before the end of the first day. Every home is different, so that is a general expectation and not a promise for yours.
Chapter 03
What it costs against what the old one costs to run
An air conditioner is one of the most expensive appliances in a house, so Chinook suggests a different starting point than the price tag: add up what the old unit costs you now in repairs, in efficiency and on the monthly energy bill. Seen that way, a replacement can turn out to be the cheaper long-term choice.
Utility programs may help pay for efficient equipment. Chinook works with Benton PUD and Franklin PUD and passes on discounts for ENERGY STAR certified equipment, and the rebates page links to each program so you can see what is current.
You do not need to replace everything to get started. If only part of the system is worn out, Chinook can replace part of it and says it works with all existing HVAC systems. A free estimate covers whichever route fits.
Chinook Heating & Air. Washington contractor LIC# CHINOHA998MS. Call (509) 736-1121.
One install, start to finish
What a new system did for one Richland home
Amy lives in a Richland house built in the late 1990s. She noticed her utility bills climbing each season and chose to replace her equipment before it failed. She needed to see real monthly savings to justify the spend, so she asked for a high efficiency option.
- Energy bills
- 32%
- lower energy bills overall, more than $500 over 12 months
- Equipment
- 20 SEER
- American Standard heat pump, paired with a high efficiency gas furnace
Crew arrives around 7:30 am and preps the house and themselves to keep the job clean.
Old equipment comes out and leaves on the truck, so nothing is left for the homeowner to dispose of.
New equipment is set, brazed, charged with refrigerant, wired and the thermostat is programmed.
The technician shows Amy how to use the smart thermostat and maintain the new system, then does a final sweep.
Chinook’s own caveat travels with the numbers: these savings are specific to Amy’s lifestyle. She spends most of her days at home, so her system runs around the clock. Your bills will depend on your house and your habits.
Chinook published this case study in 2019. Read the full write-up of Amy’s install, see what utility programs may apply on the rebates page, or read about the heat pump side of the job.