The Duncan Banner

Local News

August 16, 2010

Summer heats up for air conditioning businesses

Toni Hopper The Duncan Banner

DUNCAN — An unusually hot summer, paired with tighter budgets have brought more repair work to air conditioning specialists like Virgil Davis, but that’s not really a good thing.

“You can’t keep people happy this time of the year. That’s just the way it is,” he said Wednesday morning about 9:30, as the temperatures inched their way up to the 90 degree mark.

“The economy is not so good. We’re doing more repairs this year because people don’t have the money (for new units). That happens.”

Davis has been in business for more than 30 years and he said this has been a difficult year.

“Nobody has the manpower and it’s hard, can’t keep up with the number of air condition units breaking.”

Davis explained that because of a new federal law that went into effect Jan. 1, the standard refrigerant, freon, can no longer be used. That means replacing lines and other parts that work with the new refrigerant so everything meets code.

“We have to change out the coils and there are many things we have to do,” he said.

“It’s part of the global warming scenario that we’ve heard about for years,” he said.

Davis said repairs have become standard because people are struggling these days to keep their budget in line.

“They don’t have the expendable income they’ve had, people are a little more reluctant with the economy like it is,” Davis said.

Alan Huckabaa with Climate Control agrees that this has been a year in which the economy has affected business, but the heavy heat also indicates people don’t want to do without their central air conditioning services.

“We’re behind, you can’t staff for weather like this. It’s not a typical amount of workload that you can handle. We prioritize, try to get to people who don’t have any air conditioning first,” he said.

He said many of the homes they’ve gone into have had temperatures approaching 100 degrees. Commercial buildings where they’ve had to go on the rooftops, have been registered at 130 degree temperatures, he said. That means he’s watching his service technicians and making sure they don’t get overheated.

“We try to do the attics in the mornings, the afternoons — it’s impossible to stay up there for any extended amount of time,” Huckabaa said.

Davis said the heat is also affecting his staff.

“I’ve had more guys getting ill on the job with the heat. Dehydration, that is not what we want. I don’t need them home, our job, is of course, doing things that require us to be out in the heat,” Davis said. 

“The heat’s been so intense with the humidity levels the way they are. I’ve been doing this for some 30 years and this is a bad year,” he said. And he agreed that more people are choosing to repair their units instead of replace them, because of the cost. 

He offered some tips.

“Be sure and keep the air conditioner clean. Make sure there is no large accumulation of dirt, and they should keep their filters clean.”

He said if those are not done, a unit’s lines can clog and cause water leaks. Dirty filters also are a trouble source for problems.

“Even if it was serviced earlier in the year, breakdowns happen, and with the long run periods we’re having and getting something that is old, having to run all the time the units are working hard.”

Huckabaa said the heat is taxing units but if people will make sure they keep their outdoor units free of grass, dirt and other things, it will help.

“It needs all the air it can get. This time of year, the cottonwood gets pulled in. The cleaner the system is, the more economical it will run,” he said.



— Toni Hopper is a reporter for The Duncan Banner. She can be reached at 580-255-5354, Ext. 132 or by e-mail at: toni.hopper@duncanbanner.com.

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