Takes about a minute. No obligation.
Electricity in Texas ran 14.94 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2024, and your AC is probably your biggest draw on the meter all summer. A new system's efficiency rating decides how much of that power actually turns into cooled air versus how much just runs the compressor longer than it needs to. When you're comparing units for installation, the rating on the label matters as much as the price tag, because you'll be paying that electric rate every month the unit runs, not just once at purchase.
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
AC runs May through October in Johnson County.
April is when a new system should already be in, not when you start calling around.
Johnson County falls under zone 2A, the hot and humid side of the energy code, and cooling carries most of the load here rather than heating. That's why the installation minimum is set higher than the rest of the country. Any split-system AC under 45,000 Btu/h put in here has to hit at least 14.3 SEER2. A unit built only to the national manufacturing floor doesn't clear what this region requires. That rating limits which systems a contractor can legally install here, not just which ones run cheaper to operate.
Johnson County logged 98 hail events between 2015 and 2024, plus dozens of windstorms and tornadoes. That outdoor unit is going to take weather. Where it sits, what shields it, and how you'll handle a power outage are decisions for the installation, not after.
Find a contractorSix months of 94-degree afternoons means the compressor outside is running long hours most days, all summer. That kind of duty pushes a contractor toward sizing the system by a load calculation rather than copying the number off the old unit's nameplate. A system sized too big short-cycles and wears its parts sooner. One sized too small runs flat out all afternoon and still falls behind. Ask whoever quotes the job to show you the load calculation, not just a figure pulled from the square footage.
A contractor recovers the refrigerant from the old system before touching anything, since it's against the law to vent it into the air. After that the lines get capped, the electrical gets disconnected, and the indoor coil and outdoor unit both come out. Hauling off the old equipment is usually part of the install job, not something you arrange separately.
Older systems often ran a different refrigerant than what's made today, and the oil left behind in the old lines doesn't mix well with the new charge. Most contractors run new line sets rather than flush the old ones. If the old pad or mounting is cracked or sunk, that gets replaced too, since the new unit needs a level base to run quietly for years.
Estimates for a typical Johnson County home, from EIA household energy data, Texas fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.
A load calculation and a permit come before anything gets touched. Once the crew starts, the old refrigerant gets recovered, the lines get disconnected, and the indoor coil and outdoor unit both come out. The new line set goes in, the pad gets leveled or replaced, and the new coil and condenser get set and connected. Then the lines get pulled down with a vacuum pump to clear out air and moisture before any refrigerant goes in. Trapped moisture turns to acid inside a sealed system, so that step doesn't get skipped. After charging, a contractor checks static pressure, airflow across the coil, and the temperature split between the air going in and the air coming out. That split shows whether the system is actually cooling the way it should, not just running.
