Maine HVAC Service
Aerial view of a gray outdoor air conditioning condenser unit mounted on a concrete pad next to a house with vinyl siding.

AC Installation in Lewiston, ME

A new air conditioner in Lewiston will run from July through August every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Androscoggin County will get in touch.

Tell us about the job

It takes about a minute.

Step 1 of 3: Equipment
An outdoor air conditioning condenser unit mounted on a concrete pad next to a blue-sided residential house at sunset.

Two months of real heat, and a lot of storms in between

Lewiston only asks for cooling in July and August, with summer afternoons averaging around 77°F. That is a short season, but a new air conditioner still has to be sized and installed to handle those two months well, not just run.

Androscoggin County has logged 47 damaging wind events and 17 hail storms over the past ten years, one of them dropping a hailstone 1.75 inches across. Any unit sitting outside needs to be installed and anchored with that in mind. If you're putting in new central air, it will also need to meet the federal minimum of 13.4 SEER2, the efficiency floor for systems built since 2023.

2 months
July through August, your air conditioner is on duty
77°F
the average summer afternoon it cools against
17 hail events
in ten years, and hail bends the fins on outdoor coils
13.4 SEER2
the federal minimum any new unit must meet
Isometric line illustration of a cutaway house showing interior rooms with furniture, ceiling ductwork, an indoor air handler, and an outdoor condenser unit connected by lines.
Your air conditioner works hardest from July through August.

NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals

An outdoor central air conditioning unit mounted on a concrete pad beside a blue-sided house at sunset.

Going above the federal minimum saves little here, about $20 a year.

  • A higher-efficiency unit$170 a year
  • A new unit at the federal minimum, 13.4 SEER2$190 a year

Estimates for a typical Androscoggin County home, from EIA household energy data, Maine fuel prices and NOAA climate normals. Your home will differ.

What size air conditioner does my house need?
The right size depends on your home's square footage, how much insulation it has, how many windows face the sun, and the layout of your ductwork. Two houses of the same size can need different tonnage because of these factors. A contractor works this out with a load calculation, not a guess based on square footage alone. Going bigger than you need isn't better, an oversized unit cools the air fast but shuts off before it pulls the humidity out, so the house feels clammy even at the right temperature.
Should I replace the whole system or just the outdoor unit?
In most cases you replace both the outdoor unit and the indoor coil together. The two are matched to work at a specific efficiency and capacity, and pairing a new outdoor unit with an old coil usually means you lose that efficiency and can shorten the life of the new equipment. If your system is older, the refrigerant and coil design may not even be compatible with what's sold today. A contractor can look at the age and condition of your indoor coil and tell you whether it can stay or needs to go.
Do HVAC contractors in Lewiston need a state license to work on my home?
Yes, anyone installing or servicing central air conditioning in your home needs to hold the proper state license. Licensing means the contractor has passed testing on the work and carries the insurance required to do it. Ask to see the license number before work starts, and check that it's current if you want to confirm it yourself.
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