Demand for air conditioners in Metro Vancouver heats up during winter months

You may have been scraping frost off your car each morning this week, but those in B.C.’s HVAC industry say it’s actually a good time to get an air conditioner right now.

During the winter months, business used to slow down, but ever since the heat dome two years ago and last year’s mini heatwave, Milani says demand for an AC has been extraordinary and lasts the whole year.

Alex Milani is the commercial division manager for the company, and he thinks given what we went through in this province, it has scared people into ensuring they stay cool — day and night.

“I think it’s really put the importance of having good comfort and HVAC systems in your home… so a lot of people are really subscribing to the idea that air conditioning is a really important fundamental part of a person’s home.”

In addition to installing new systems, he says they’re also retrofitting older air conditioners to help extend their shelf life.

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He says if you don’t book an appointment now, there’s a chance you may not get one at all and possibly not at the price point you want.

“[The heat dome] was a big wake-up call for people and another part of it as well is supply chain issues, everything takes a little bit longer now to get and so people see that and don’t want to wait until the last minute to get air conditioning for their home and so they just want to get it installed so they’re prepared and ready for the summertime.”

Milani says households of all ages are getting cooling systems.

“Seniors, in particular, really are getting these types of systems installed because they’re the most at risk when it gets really hot outside, but it’s been across the map. Young families, even in apartment buildings, many strata are changing their bylaws to allow for the installation of air conditioning systems.”

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He says there are different sizes of air conditioners you can get, depending on how many rooms you want cooled and your square footage. They also range in price from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars, so you’re equipped for heating and cooling.

“It’s been a bit of investment but the great things with these systems is they last for a very long time.”

The 2021 heat dome left more than 600 people dead in B.C., the majority of whom died alone in their homes without any access to cool air. A B.C. Coroner’s Service report released last year found there was also a lag between alerts being issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and public agencies and the government’s public response.

It also found 67 per cent of those who died were 70 and older and more than half lived alone.