The cost of replacing home heating and cooling equipment continues to get more expensive. What's leading to the higher charges?
WOSU’s Debbie Holmes spoke to John Moore, general manager of Hauser Heating and Air in Blue Ash, Ohio, and current president of the Air Conditioning Contractors of Ohio.
Debbie Holmes: How much have you seen costs rise in the last year or so?
John Moore: Our costs have risen between 20 to 40% on a big range.
Debbie Holmes: And that's going from what price to what price then on average?
John Moore: On average, I've seen swings as far as going from $12,000 to $22,000.
Debbie Holmes: Tell me about the reason that these costs are going way up.
John Moore: Two factors. One, you're going to have tariffs, the uncertainty of how it was rolled out kind of went back and forth a little bit, but manufacturers remained at the high end. They didn't rescind any increase that occurred. And then on top of that, we had refrigerant change from the EPA Aims Act. We went from R-410A refrigerant to R-454 refrigerant and that 454 refrigerant equipment has a higher price point than the 410A equipment.
Debbie Holmes: Now where does that refrigerant come from?
John Moore: It's manufactured here in the United States. It's been manufactured sometimes in other places, but mostly in the U.S. for refrigerant itself.
Debbie Holmes: And so why does it cost more?
John Moore: The equipment has to change, right? So you have a different molecular structure of that refrigerant. And so the equipment that we have cannot sustain that new standard for more energy-efficient refrigerant. So it has to change out the equipment to work with the new refrigerant.
Debbie Holmes: So prices then are up for heating and cooling and plumbing?
John Moore: Heating and cooling for sure, plumbing is probably on the same constraints there as heating and cooling is as well because of raw goods, metals, steel, boards, ships. We all source them all over the globe.
Debbie Holmes: So tell me some of those places and how much higher tariffs you've faced.
John Moore: Mexico, Asia has a lot of boards. Mexico has a lot of assembly for some of the larger, more popular names in our industry. So it gets imported back to us with a tariff attached to it. We’re not able to see how deeply, how much of the increase we receive is tied directly to tariffs, but I will say 10 years back, I would only experience a price increase once, maybe twice a year at best. Now, we're seeing four to six times a year receiving increases from our manufacturers.
Debbie Holmes: So you've had that then in the last year.
John Moore: We've had five in the last year. In 2025, we had five. And for the beginning, we've already got one announced to us for the quarter one 2026.
Debbie Holmes: Can you tell us what country that's coming from?
John Moore: Mexico.
Debbie Holmes: What are people telling you and your customers? Are they saying this is too much? I can't afford it. How are they handling this?
John Moore: It's a pickle, because once you have HV heating and cooling, you want to always have it. So customers are responding. They’re shopping more. We're discounting more wherever we can, absorbing some of those increases. And also, we're seeing a huge increase in the reliance on financing. The majority of our customers are financing their replacements, but they're also financing repairs.
Debbie Holmes: How's business right now?
John Moore: Business is good. There are people still trying to upgrade because it's a necessity. It's actually a luxury, but it's viewed as a necessity in many homes. So it's one of the things that people will make sure they can make happen for their families, right? Especially when you have respiratory illnesses and things like that. It is required for some people.
Debbie Holmes: So you're not backlogged then?
John Moore: No, we try not to be backlogged in a residential side. We try not to be backlogged. We take care of today and tomorrow and the next day. And if we can't, we try to pull it up to take care of the day tomorrow or the next day.
Debbie Holmes: Are you worried about this next year?
John Moore: No, no different than any other year. I think that the HVAC industry as a whole, as a cyclical industry, we're kind of used to ups and downs. The weather will dictate and is always on our favor as well. The customers across the board when it comes to HVAC, it's not like cars where people can say, I'll ride the bus or something like that. People normally, they're not going to neglect or pass on the opportunity to have HVAC.
