HVAC Installation in Winston-Salem, NC
A new system here will heat from October through April and cool from May through September every year. Tell us about the house, and a licensed contractor who covers Forsyth County will get in touch.
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What Forsyth County asks of a new system
Homes here need heat from October through April, seven months of the year, with winter nights averaging 30°F from December through February. Summer runs May through September, with afternoons averaging 86°F. Between the two, a heating and cooling system here works all twelve months.
Most homes in the area heat with electricity, so the system has to hold up on both ends, cold nights and hot afternoons alike. Storms are part of the picture too. Forsyth County has seen 174 damaging wind events and 12 winter storms over the past ten years, and across North Carolina a quarter of households went at least 24 hours without power in 2024. A new system installed here needs to handle that kind of outage as well as the daily swing between seasons.
- 7 months
- October through April, your system heats
- 5 months
- May through September, it cools
- 30°F
- the average winter night it heats against
- 86°F
- the average summer afternoon it cools against
NOAA nClimDiv, 1991–2020 normals
North Carolina requires HVAC contractors to hold a state license.
The license comes from the State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors, and it is tested. The board keeps a record of the contractor, not of each job, so the same license covers this installation and the next one. It tells you the person doing the work has been checked by the state, not that this particular job has.
For an installation, the license is only part of what stands behind the work. In most cities and counties, replacing a heating and cooling system also needs a permit from the local building office, with an inspection once the work is done. That inspection is what checks the actual install, the gas connection included, since a bad connection is the part of this job that can hurt someone. The license tells you who is allowed to do the work. The permit and inspection tell you the work itself was checked.
Sources: North Carolina General Assembly · North Carolina State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors
- When should I replace my HVAC system?
- Replace it when repairs keep piling up or the system can no longer keep the house comfortable. A unit that is old enough to be breaking down often costs more to fix than to replace once you add up the repairs. Rising energy bills without any other explanation are another sign the equipment is losing efficiency. Heat is needed here from October through April and cooling from May through September, so the system runs nearly all year with little time to sit idle, and a unit on its last legs does not get much of a break.
- Should I replace my furnace and air conditioner at the same time?
- If both are old, yes, it usually makes sense to replace them together. A furnace and air conditioner installed at the same time are matched to work as a system, and pairing new equipment with an aging counterpart can mean the new part never runs at its best. If one unit is much newer than the other, a contractor can look at both and tell you whether it is worth waiting or better to replace both now.
- What happens during an HVAC installation?
- A contractor removes the old furnace and air conditioner, or heat pump, and sets the new equipment in place, connecting it to the ductwork, gas or electric line, refrigerant lines, and thermostat wiring. They test the system to make sure it heats, cools, and cycles correctly before calling the job done. Replacing a furnace, air conditioner or heat pump needs a permit from the local building office and an inspection when the work is done, and a licensed contractor handles that part too.