Typical home size in North Carolina is around 2150 sq. ft., and with average insulation (13R walls & 38R ceiling), you will need an HVAC system size of about 48000 BTUs / 4 TONs *.
Professional installation of a 14 SEER HVAC System in NC costs between $4,749 and $5,724, which includes labor & materials. A 14 HVAC system provides the best combination of price, value and ROI.
Your Central AC can be a single unit or (if over 5 TONs) a combination of multiple smaller units, & you can use a conventional Central AC or a Central Heat Pump.
Adjust your home size & electric cost, to see numbers tailored to you:The state of North Carolina is located in Climate Region #4, which means it has hotter than average summer temperatures, compared with other 49 states.
Average summer daytime temperature in NC is around 89.6 °F, which requires a bigger than average size HVAC system for your home.
This guide is based around a Central HVAC system, which cannot be truly zoned (unlike Mini Splits).
How Much Does HVAC System Cost in North Carolina?
HVAC Contractors in North Carolina typically charge around $4,749 to $5,724 to install a 4 Ton standard efficiency 14 SEER Central AC, of which $2,964 is the cost of materials, excluding refrigerant (freon). A 14 SEER Central AC will consume roughly 6595 kWhs of electricity during a summer cooling season.
A more advanced 16 SEER Central AC (4 Ton), which usually has a 2-stage compressor and is more efficient.
Installation cost of a 16 SEER HVAC unit in NC is around $5,934 to $7,153, with materials costing around $3,671.
16 SEER models are more efficient than 14 SEER, and should consume around 5837 kWhs of electricity for the season. A 16 SEER Air Conditioned may be either a conventional AC
or a Heat Pump variant - the power consumption & efficiency will not change.
Costs Difference between NC urban areas, and the rest of the state:
Typically, you can expect to HVAC costs to be lower in smaller towns, and higher in urban areas. Largest cities in North Carolina are:
- Charlotte (population 885,708)
- Raleigh (population 467,665)
- Greensboro (population 296,710)
- Durham (population 287,865)
If you live in one of these larg(er) cities (Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, & Durham), your installations cost, is likely to be 3-5% higher than in the rest of the state, or $6,171 to $7,439 for a 16 SEER central AC.
In smaller towns, you can expect about 2-3% discount, or $5,756 to $6,938 for the same for a 16 SEER unit.
High Efficiency Central Air Unit Cost (18+ SEER)
The most efficient models of Central AC start at 18 SEER, and are almost always a Heat Pump variant. A 4 Ton Central Air unit installation will cost around $9,069 to $10,931 in North Carolina, and it will consume 5248 kWhs of power during a summer cooling season.
If you are a resident of Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, or Durham, you can expect to pay a slight premium for an 18 SEER system, and your cost will be around $9,431 to $11,369.
Finally, 20+ SEER central air conditioners are always Heat Pumps, are fairly rare due to their very high relative cost, and long ROI. A 4 ton
Central AC / Heat Pump with 20 SEER rating will usually cost $12,445 to $15,001.
However, higher end models (specifically Lennox Heat Pumps) but can run as high as $18,260
for a Lennon XP20 Heat Pump, and upward of $24,070 for Lennox SL25XPV (25 Seer) Heat Pump, which can also heat in temperatures as low as -13 °F.
Fun HVAC Fact: Lennox has a "sister brand" - Armstrong, which in most cases is has identical HVAC systems, with same specs and warranty, but priced 20-30% less than Lennox. Essentially by installing Armstrong HVAC system you get a Lennox for much less.
20 SEER AC / Heat Pumps will use around 4776 kWhs of electricity, making it 57% more efficient than a 14 SEER HVAC unit, and 116% more efficient than older 9 SEER AC.
These 20 SEER heat pumps are them some of the most efficient, commercially available residential HVAC systems! However, the upfront cost makes them not the best value.
How local climate affects size of your AC, and electrical costs:
Summers temperatures in NC (which is located in Climate Zone 4) average 89.6 °F, are generally hot, and require longer AC run times, of about 13.3 hours per day. Your estimated cost of running your AC is around $796/year, for a 16 SEER system. See Climate Zone/Region map below:
For most homeowners in NC, a 14 SEER Central HVAC unit will be the best balance of price and energy efficiency, and yield an average ROI of 8.4 years, when upgrading from an old 9 SEER HVAC system. Let's take a deeper look and energy savings and ROI in the next section, and hou you can reduce your energy costs.
Below we will look at different SEER ratings, and cost savings, which you can expect by upgrading your HVAC system, as well as ROI, or how long your new Central Air unit will take to pay for itself in energy savings in North Carolina.
Which Central AC in NC is best for you (upfront cost & ROI)?
In regards to cooling your home, an old 9 SEER AC will do the same job as the most modern 24 SEER heat pump. The main differnece is in mow much it will cost you to run your AC. There is of course some small "comfort" differences, where 24 SEER ac runs smoothly, and 9 SEER unit will have on/off cycles, but they both provide equal amount of cooling.
For example, a 9 SEER would cost $1409 to run for a year, vs $554 to run a 24 SEER heat pump. That's a difference of $855 per year!
The electric rate in North Carolina is $0.136 / kWh ( 22% lower than than national average of $0.167/kWh ).
Cost of electricity in NC is rising by about 1.88 % / year over last 10 years, and by year 2034, is expected to go up, to around $0.16/kWh ($1,083/year for a 14 SEER AC), based on historic electricity inflation in North Carolina.
Projected electric cost inflation in NC over next 10 years (cost to run 9-20 SEER AC)
Assuming you already have a 14 SEER AC, your total energy usage for Cooling will be around 6595 kWhs , you can expect to pay around $899 / year to cool your home.
If you have a 9 SEER HVAC system, you are currently paying around $1,409 / year. and power usage close to 10336 kWhs
Our "Price-Value-ROI Model" shows that for a 2150 sq. ft. home in NC, a 14 SEER HVAC system, which uses 36% less power than a 9 SEER unit, and offers the best price / value / ROI ratio.
Thus, upgrading from 9 SEER to 14 SEER system, it will pay for itself in 8.4 years.
North Carolina HVAC Prices, Energy Costs & 10 year ROI: 9 vs 14/16/18/20 SEER
| 9 SEER | 14 SEER | 16 SEER | 18 SEER | 20 SEER | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Installation Cost | - | $5,160 | $6,450 | $9,850 | $13,520 |
| Electric Usage / Yr | 10336 kWhs | 6595 kWhs | 5837 kWhs | 5248 kWhs | 4776 kWhs |
| Electric Cost / Yr | $1409 | $899 | $796 | $715 | $651 |
| Energy Savings / Yr | - | $510 | $613 | $694 | $758 |
| ROI (With Inflation) | - | 8.4 years | 8.7 years | 11.8 years | 14.8 years |
| 10 Year Savings (With Inflation) | - | $984 | $937 | $-1,494 | $-4,392 |
See table above for comparison of ROI, Annual Energy Savings and Cost of Electricity. Best price/value unit is marked in green.
What is SEER Rating, and How it Affects AC Efficiency?
SEER, which stands for Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating is a measuremnt of how much electricity your AC will use to cool your house. SEER can be caluclated as follows:
SEER = BTUs / WATTs
The higher the SEER rating, the less electricity your AC will use.
BTUs is the cooling capacity of your AC, which can also be represented in 'TONs'. 1 TON = 12000 BTUs. A typical central AC size is 36000 BTUs or 3 Tons.
If you know your AC's Cooling capacity and the SEER rating, you can calculate approximately how much power it will draw at 100% load. Here is the formula:
BTUs / SEER = WATTs
So if we take our average sized 3 Ton AC (36000 BTUs), with 14 SEER rating we can caluclate it's power draw.
WATTs = 36000 / 14 = 2250 WATTs (2.25 kW)
From this simple formula, you can see that at max load, your 3 Ton AC will use about 2250 Watts or 2.25 kW.
Note: this number is only for the AC compressor. Total power will be slightly higher, becuase you also have the blower motor that pushes cool air through the ducts. The blower motor on modern AC will use about 300 watts when running at full speed. Therefore total power draw for a 3 Ton 16 SEER AC will be around 2.55 kW.
Here is an HVAC sizing table, based on home size and your Climate Zone (NC is in Zone #4):
| AC Size | ZONE 1 | ZONE 2 | ZONE 3 | ZONE 4 | ZONE 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5 Ton | 700-1100 s.f. | 700-1050 s.f. | 500-1000 s.f. | 500-950 s.f. | 500-900 s.f. |
| 2 Ton | 1101-1400 s.f. | 1051-1350 s.f. | 1001-1300 s.f. | 951-1250 s.f. | 901-1200 s.f. |
| 2.5 Ton | 1401-1650 s.f. | 1351-1500 s.f. | 1301-1500 s.f. | 1251-1550 s.f. | 1201-1500 s.f. |
| 3 Ton | 1651-2100 s.f. | 1601-2000 s.f. | 1601-1900 s.f. | 1501-1850 s.f. | 1501-1800 s.f. |
| 3.5 Ton | 2101-2300 s.f. | 2001-2250 s.f. | 1901-2200 s.f. | 1851-2150 s.f. | 1801-2100 s.f. |
| 4 Ton | 2301-2700 s.f. | 2251-2700 s.f. | 2201-2500 s.f. | 2151-2500 s.f. | 2101-2400 s.f. |
| 5 Ton | 2701-3300 s.f. | 2751-3300 s.f. | 2601-3200 s.f. | 2501-3100 s.f. | 2401-3000 s.f. |
Note: sizes in the table above are for information only. When installing new HVAC system, we recommend that your HVAC Contractor do a Manual J heat load calulation, to size your HVAC system properly.
How much electricity will my AC use per month?
This will depend on where you live (local temperatures) and your usage patterns. Basically you take power draw, and multiply it by avearge number of hours per day, that your AC runs.
In North Carolina, the AC runs an average of 13.3 hours per day. Multiply it by 30 days, and your will get approximate Kilo Watt Hours (kWh) per months. In our case it will be 1017 kWhs. And to go a little further, at current electic rate of $0.1363 / kWh, it will cost approxymately $139 / month, to cool your home with a 3 Ton HVAC system.
Benefits of Upgrading Your Old Central AC from 9 to 16 SEER:
If your Central AC is 15-20+ years old, most likely you have a 9 SEER system, which means you spend about $1,409 per year for cooling.
This is $613 (77%) more expensive compared to same size, but a a more efficient 16 SEER HVAC system.
If you upgrade your old 9 SEER to a 16 SEER HVAC or Heat Pump, your annual cooling cost will go down to an estimated $796 / yr.
Finally, your new HVAC system should pay for itself in 8.4 years with just energy savings (adjusted for inflation).
Assuming the cost of electricity will continue to increase by 1.88% / year, by the year 2034, your annual electric bill for cooling is expected to be $959/yr.
If you upgrade your old 9 Seer system to a new 16 Seer system, over next 10 years, your total savings will be close to $7,387 in energy costs (less $6,450 form the installation)!
If you have an older AC it makes sense to upgrade your AC system to a higher SEER (more efficient) Central AC unit such as 14 or even 16 SEER, if your house is around 2000 sq. ft.
For larger homes (3000 sq. ft and up), in Climate Zone 4 & 5, where electric costs are above $0.20 / kWh, it may advisable to upgrade even to an 18 SEER unit, as extra energy savings, will reduce your ROI period.
If you upgrade from 9 SEER to 16 SEER, the cost will be around $6,450 as your ROI or payback will be 10.5 years.
However, if currently you have a 14 SEER AC, it does not make financial sense to upgrade your AC system to a higher SEER (more efficient) Central AC unit such as 18 SEER, as the price difference is $4,695, and your ROI or payback will be 21.2 years, adjusted for inflation and 1.88% annual increase in cost of electricity in NC.
Installing New HVAC in North Carolina - which SEER Rating to choose?
As you can see in the costs / value table below, in most cases, over a 10 year period, a 16 SEER HVAC system will provide the best value for the price in North Carolina.
This table compares 4 different models of 48000 Btu HVAC systems - 14, 16, 18 and 20 SEER. The base line is 14 SEER model,
and more efficient units are compared to it based on initial cost, energy savings in the 1st year, as well as 10 year energy saving, and total ROI period.
Both are adjusted for electric cost inflation (1.88%) in North Carolina for a , compounded over last 10 years (we expect the same electric rate increases going forward, as that is the best we have).
North Carolina HVAC Prices, Energy Costs & 10 year ROI: 14 vs 16/18/20 SEER
| 14 SEER | 16 SEER | 18 SEER | 20 SEER | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Installation Cost | $5,160 | $6,450 | $9,850 | $13,520 |
| Electric Usage / Yr | 6595 kWhs | 5837 kWhs | 5248 kWhs | 4776 kWhs |
| Electric Cost / Yr | $899 | $796 | $715 | $651 |
| Energy Savings / Yr | - | $103 | $184 | $248 |
| ROI (With Inflation) | - | 10.4 years | 21.2 years | 28 years |
| 10 Year Savings (With Inflation) | - | $-47 | $-2,478 | $-5,376 |
As you can see 14 SEER offers the best value for the money in NC, and upgrading to higher SEER will not lead to any additional savings.
However, becuase Net Diffierence in savings over 10 years is just $-47, we still recommend a 16 SEER system, as it is usally a better overall product.
* HVAC System Sizing & Pricing Our numbers are for general information only. When installing a new HVAC system, we recommend that you or your HVAC Contractor always perform a Manual J heat load calculation as well as ductwork suitability assessment, specific to your home. HVAC Prices prices, energy costs and savings are provided for reference only, are based on many factors, and may change at any time.