The summer months mean air conditioning companies are working overtime to repair and replace units across the greater Tampa Bay region.
But some owners said they’ve been forced to raise prices as a result of tariffs, costly labor and federal regulations.
Tammy See, owner of OEL Heating and Cooling in Thonotosassa, said her company tries not to pass these costs along to customers, but sometimes they have to.
“If I’m going to stay in business, I have to increase my pricing, and that’s hard,” See said.
She said the increases her customers are seeing are because suppliers are hiking their prices by 3%. She said suppliers are calling this “the tariff increase.”
But Brian Hebert, owner of 3H AC in Tampa, said he’s seen prices jump between 5% and 10%.
“In my industry, I’ve seen this: Even if there’s a talk of a tariff or price increase or material increase, the manufacturers just hammer us with price increases,” Hebert said.
See added it’s more than just tariffs prompting price increases – employees are looking for higher salaries to keep up with their rising cost of living.
Hebert said, as a small business owner, he is struggling to find quality employees because they are being picked up by bigger firms that can pay more.
“They have bigger purchasing power, better leverage on health insurance and they can offer these guys more money,” he said. “It’s hard for me to find good help and be competitive with my wages.”
See said another challenge has been navigating a federal regulation that went into effect at the beginning of the year.
Guidelines from the Environmental Protection Agency banned certain refrigerants used in air conditioning systems.
See said it has been difficult to service systems that used old refrigerants because manufacturers are focusing on new systems that don’t.
“[Repairing old systems] becomes much more expensive if you can even find [the old refrigerants],” she said.
While Hebert said he has a stock of those refrigerants, that supply will eventually run out.
“That will begin to dwindle over the next year,” he said. “As the new refrigerant is completely phased in, the old refrigerant will be phasing out and become more expensive to replace.”
See said these price increases have made loyal customers more hesitant to commit, saying people are “shopping around” more to compare prices from different service providers.
"People living in Florida, we don’t fear hurricanes. We fear no air."Tammy See, owner of OEL Heating and Cooling
Her customers have also been more hesitant to replace a dying system and are instead “putting a band-aid on it” to buy the machines – and their wallets – time.
“I think they’re more conscious of where they are going to spend their money,” See said.
But Hebert said customers also know these repairs need to be made, so he’s been busier than ever.
“Because of our pricing and because of the heat index and the absolute necessity and post-election, I think people are realizing they have to buy when they have to buy,” he said.
How to keep your AC unit running efficiently
To increase the longevity of an air conditioning system, See said a non-negotiable is changing air filters every month.
“You may not think it needs it, but that is the first level of defense for air flow into your unit,” she said.
Hebert said you can check them as frequently as every three weeks, depending on how much the system is used.
See also recommended getting the annual maintenance to ensure warranties are not voided when a part needs to be replaced.
“People living in Florida, we don’t fear hurricanes. We fear no air,” See said.
Hebert said sometimes it’s better to just get a new system rather than putting money into repairs that will only fix the current one temporarily.
He also recommends backflushing the drain and hosing down condenser coils regularly to help the system run better.
