The cost of cooling down may burn a bigger hole in your wallet this summer if you need to replace your home's air conditioner.
Contractors cite changes in Environmental Protection Agency-enforced regulations on refrigerants, a component that your home's air conditioner can't work without, as a big issue.
The modifications revolve around a phase out of commonly used air conditioning refrigerants like R-410A for new ones like R-454B.
The transition is being implemented because of the touted improvement in energy efficiency and lesser environmental impact as compared to previous refrigerants.
"Refrigerant is kind of like the blood of the air conditioning system," Fernando Bronson of Healthy Air Florida said, standing next to an air conditioner in Cape Coral.
"If you think of the compressor as your heart and then the refrigerant lines and air handler as the arteries and everything, the refrigerant is basically the blood of the air conditioning system," he continued.
Despite the importance that refrigerants play in keeping homes cool, contractors say getting the new R-454B type has proven to be both challenging and costly.
"It's quadrupled since January. And when we receive our next shipment, we are told that it's going to be double the current price," Bronson said.
Though there does not appear to be a singular reason for the significant increase in refrigerant prices, Paul Stehle of the Southwest Florida Air Conditioning Contractors Association says a combination of supply and demand issues, product shortages, and unique challenges that the new refrigerants bring that earlier varieties did not are increasing the price.
"Our local industries have been fighting against it," Stehle said. "One of the reasons is it's slightly flammable, which should scare every single homeowner on the planet," he said.
Stehle has been making appeals to federal lawmakers for intervention. He says the slight flammability issue means the new refrigerant canisters, along with the way they are safely transported, are different, which contributes to the price.
"So, there will be more safety devices every place, so it's just doubling and tripling up what the homeowner is going to have to watch out for," Stehle said.
Since the refrigerant regulations only impact home air conditioners manufactured in 2025 and going forward, as customers purchase these types of units, contractors are having more difficulty than before.
"Even if I could afford it, I can't get it," Stehle said. "We've got no jugs to put it in. So if you really, really want it, you're going to pay out the nose to get it."
Back in Cape Coral, Bronson of Healthy Air Florida says he thinks during this period of industry transition, customers will adjust how, what and when they buy.
Once the supply of air conditioners that run on R-410A refrigerant is sold out, he says making repairs on existing units in an attempt to extend their lifespan may become more popular.
"In the past, they would rather take those funds for a larger repair and invest into a new AC system, I think now more people are going to make those larger repairs," he said.
For customers who are not in the market for a new air conditioner unit at the moment, contractors note that costs, even after this period of transition ends, will be higher.
"I definitely think you need to save probably 30% more than you had to in the past," Bronson said. "Every contractor in air conditioning is going to have these same issues, and we're all facing the same problems, and we're trying to communicate as best we can with our clients and be as fair as possible."
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