The biggest air conditioner on the lot is the wrong one for most Palatka houses

The belief, and what it does to a house

Ask around Newtown or along the US 17 corridor and you will hear it: when the old unit dies, go up a size. It ran all day, so it must have been too small. In a dry climate that logic might hold. In Palatka, where July highs average about 92 and the air is heavy from June through September, an oversized air conditioner is the surest way to a cold, sticky house.

Here is why. An air conditioner removes humidity only while it runs. A unit too large for the house reaches the setpoint quickly and quits with most of the air’s moisture still in it. The room reads 74 and feels like a damp basement. The compressor starts and stops a dozen times an hour, which is the hardest thing you can do to it. And the ductwork that was already undersized in a 1960s block house is now being asked to move even more air.

Cook’s sizes by a load calculation, not by the nameplate on the unit we are hauling away. That alone separates a good installation from an expensive one.

Houses and storefronts are different jobs

Most of our Palatka installations are residential, but the downtown district and the clinics and shops along SR 19 and SR 20 give us a steady commercial load too. The two jobs share a sizing method and almost nothing else.

Cook’s installs both, and overnight commercial installs so a St. Johns Avenue restaurant opens on time are routine.

How an installation runs, start to finish

1. The estimate visit. We measure the house: square footage, yes, but also windows and their orientation, ceiling height, insulation, the condition of the duct and the number and size of returns. In the North and South Historic Districts this is where we discover that an 1890s house with 11-foot ceilings has been running on a system sized for a ranch.
2. Options, in writing. Usually two or three: a straightforward efficiency match, a higher-efficiency step up, and whatever duct corrections the house actually needs. Each with its own price. The estimate is free.
3. Scheduling. Most residential jobs are a single day. We pick a date, and the install crew leaves Palm Coast early enough that the 51-minute drive on SR 100 does not eat into the work.
4. The removal. Old refrigerant is recovered properly, the old unit comes out, the pad or stand is set or leveled. In flood-prone spots near the river or Dunns Creek we raise the condenser higher than the old one sat.
5. The install. New line set or a flushed and pressure-tested existing one, new drain with float protection, electrical disconnect and whip, thermostat, and any duct work in the plan.
6. Startup. Evacuate, charge by weight and verify by superheat and subcooling, check static pressure, confirm airflow at the registers, program the thermostat.
7. The walkthrough. Filter, float switch, thermostat, and the warranty registration, which we file for you.

Call 866-266-5709

How long it takes, honestly

A standard split-system replacement on a block house or a manufactured home is a one-day job: the crew arrives in the morning and the house is cooling by late afternoon. Add a half day when the air handler moves from a closet to the attic or when a new return has to be cut in. A historic-district home with substantial duct work can run two days. Commercial rooftop replacements depend on crane scheduling and are usually planned for a single early-morning window.

Lead time depends on equipment availability; common Lennox sizes are usually on hand and unusual ones may add a week. You get the date before you commit.

What you will see on the invoice

The invoice matches the estimate line for line. A typical Palatka residential invoice lists:

• The equipment by model and serial number, matched indoor and outdoor
• Pad, stand or curb
• Line set, drain line, float switch and electrical whip and disconnect
• Thermostat
• Any duct repair, sealing or new return, each as its own line
• Permit fee for Putnam County or the City of Palatka [[CONFIRM WITH JERRY]]
• Haul-away of the old equipment
• Refrigerant charge, startup and testing
• Warranty registration

What you will not see: a federal tax credit line. Washington’s 25C credit closed with the 2025 calendar, and nobody should be quoting one. What may appear instead is a utility incentive. FPL serves Palatka and East Palatka and runs a residential HVAC rebate for qualifying high-efficiency installs through its enrolled contractors; ask where Cook’s stands on that enrollment. [[CONFIRM WITH JERRY]] Clay Electric, which serves Interlachen, Melrose, Florahome and much of rural Putnam, publishes its own Energy Smart rebate for a qualifying replacement heat pump. We will tell you which applies to your address.

Two sizing cases, as they tend to go

Say a Palatka Heights bungalow with 10-foot ceilings and a west porch has a unit a size too large and a clammy house. The replacement goes down a half ton, and the owner’s first July comment is that the air finally feels dry.

Or an East Palatka double-wide that gets a same-capacity package unit, but whose belly duct is crushed in two places and sweating in a third. Sealing it does more for the cooling than the new equipment does.

Both start with a measuring tape. That is the whole argument against the biggest unit on the lot.