Interest in ACs rising in B.C. as summer temperatures on the horizon

The warmer, spring-like weather may be welcome, but for some, it’s a reminder of the summer heat to come.

Interest in air conditioners is already picking up, and now is the time to start thinking about it if you’re looking to install cooling in your home, one business owner says.

“What we find is a lot of people tend to wait until it actually starts to get quite hot before they think about air conditioning options,” Alexander Milani, owner of Milani Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning told CityNews.

Thinking about it now give you a much better chance at a smooth installation, Milani says, while having the biggest choice of units and parts.

“If you do want to have a guaranteed chance of having air conditioning for your home or if you’re thinking of getting air conditioning installed for the upcoming summer season, now is really the best time to start looking at that,” he added.

If you’re willing to wait, Milani says there won’t be any guarantee the work will be able to be done quickly.

He adds now is the time to have existing cooling systems inspected and serviced to ensure nothing gives out when it does end up getting really hot.

“If we’re in the middle of the summer, and in the middle of a really hot spell, everybody’s thinking about air conditioning at that time. And so the chances of having things out of stock or having product sold out is much higher.”

Milani’s recommendations come as almost 40 new daily temperature records were broken across British Columbia on Sat., March 16, according to Environment Canada.

A 124-year-old record was broken in Agassiz, which saw a new high of 23.3°C, surpassing the previous record of 22.8°C set in 1900.

The highest record broken was in Squamish with a 6°C increase. The old record of 17°C in 1983 was broken with a new record of 23°C.

Temperatures are expected to remain above normal into Tuesday before more typical March weather kicks in — including rain in the second half of the week.