One thing is hotter than the record-breaking temperatures sweeping across the country this summer: business for air conditioning contractors.
Gary Bedard, president of Home Comfort Solutions for Lennox International, one of the industry’s largest manufacturers of HVAC equipment, said the U.S. has seen a surge in demand for air-conditioner replacements this summer as temperatures soared into the triple digits across the country. The surge in demand could be even bigger in heatwave epicenters such as Washington, D.C., he said.
This summer has already been the hottest on record in Washington, DC, with a record four consecutive days this month when temperatures topped 101 degrees Fahrenheit. In July, parts of the East Coast and Midwest saw temperatures reach triple digits, and more than 150 million people across the country were under heat warnings.
Bedard expects the demand for air conditioner repairs to continue to increase as summers get hotter and people use their air conditioners for longer periods of time.
The global air conditioning market has grown at an average annual rate of 7 percent over the past decade, according to the Building Services Research and Information Association’s 2024 report. In 2018, the International Energy Agency projected that the global stock of air conditioners in buildings will grow from 1.6 billion units to 5.6 billion by 2050.
Bédard said domestic demand for new and refurbished air conditioners is far from peaking, with much of the demand coming from outside the U.S. New air conditioners typically last 15 to 20 years, and those installed as the U.S. housing market recovered from the 2008 financial crisis are starting to break down, he said.
Air conditioning contractors prepare for hot weather all year round, but experts say it’s hard to prepare for a season this hot. Washington, D.C.-based Perry Hughesy’s HVAC business employs 37 full-time employees, but the company has struggled to keep up with demand for air conditioning repairs this summer.
“It’s getting to the stage where I need to go out and do it myself,” said Hughesy, 70. “I’m retired from doing construction work, but the demand is there so I have to buckle up my tool belt and get out and about again.”
Hughesy said about 70 percent of the repair work his company has taken on recently has been emergency, including repairs to local hospitals, churches and schools. Many of those units are poorly maintained or too old to withstand the record temperatures, he said.
The same hot weather that has people seeking Hughesy’s services can also take a toll on his workers, lengthening the time they spend on each job, but they have to take advantage of the increased demand, he said.
“I tell my guys, ‘This is what we’ve been looking for. We’ve got three months to harvest,'” Hughesy said. “So we’re going to have to put up with the hardship, and the hardship is the heat.”
For Jay Kraft, whose Alexandria, Virginia-based company specializes in heating and air-conditioning systems, rising temperatures usually mean big business. But recent record-breaking heat waves have led to more emergency repair calls and more time for contractors working outside, where temperatures can get up to 20 degrees hotter than on the ground.
“Have you ever heard the saying, ‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade?'” Kraft said. “This summer we’ve got about 20 bushels of lemons, so that means we’re making a lot of lemonade.”
Ideally, HVAC demand should follow the “roller coaster” of temperatures, Kraft said.
But Maurice Nouri, who works for local HVAC company Michael & Son, said contractors have no time to rest from responding to heat-related emergencies, and prolonged hot weather means they can’t fulfill their normal summertime commitments to warranty customers and those with regular tune-up contracts.
“It’s a game of moving chess pieces over and over on a big, giant chessboard,” Noori said.
Michael & Son’s latest chess move was a weeks-long repair job on a townhouse in Bethesda, Md., where contractors have been there multiple times this month while residents temporarily sheltered elsewhere. On a scorching day in mid-July, contractor Mohan Maharjan arrived to finish the job.
After nine years of summers spent with Michael and his son, Maharjan has plenty of strategies for beating the heat: He swears by a cooling vest that absorbs water, releases it slowly, and envelopes him in cool air, and he also carries a magnetic umbrella that attaches to an outdoor fan.
On this day, with temperatures approaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit, all Maharjan needed to stay cool was a little shade on the home’s rooftop porch while he fixed a broken part in the central air conditioning unit, refilled the refrigerant, and checked the pressure. After working for four hours in the morning, he suddenly ran down four flights of stairs to see if the basement was finally getting air.
As Maharjan stood in the dark hallway outside the storeroom, the familiar sound of the air conditioner echoed throughout the house, signalling that the job was done.
Most of Maharajan’s repairs this summer took about an hour, but longer jobs like the one in Bethesda mean contractors working 14-hour days will struggle to meet record demand. “We’re getting really busy, and we’re trying to get as much work done as we can,” Maharajan said.
HVAC companies have also struggled with supply chain issues dating back to the height of the pandemic. During hot weather, parts may take weeks to arrive, and businesses can’t afford to wait, Kraft said, adding that contractors are using a combination of methods to meet demand, making at least 12 repair visits a day.
Kraft said his company keeps a log on the board of jobs that require short-term replacement and will need to be done again once the heat subsides, and if contractors can’t find a solution right away, they deliver portable units to customers’ homes.
Hughesy believes the industry will face equipment shortages by mid-August, given that it’s only the middle of a summer in which contractors are seeing record high temperatures. “We’re having a hard enough time getting parts and equipment even without the heat,” Hughesy said.
Kraft’s air-conditioning replacement business was already booming before the summer heat set in. His company has recently noticed an increase in serving customers interested in heat pumps and other energy-efficient cooling options, which has led to brisk business even during the normally slow spring season.
The industry is working overtime to meet demand fueled by rising temperatures and consumer desires for greater energy efficiency, but new Environmental Protection Agency requirements for refrigerants, the main chemicals used in air-conditioning systems, will throw contractors a new supply-related curveball later this year.
“Not only are our units working harder and we have to prepare for that, but the challenges that industry puts on us are mounting,” Kraft said. “… We don’t know what’s going to happen, but it’s always changing and that keeps us busy, which is a good thing.”
