Remember what our industry went through to change over to 13 SEER minimum equipment? What a nightmare! There were months of warnings about how everything was going to change.

The NEWS carried dozens and dozens of articles telling distributors and contractors how to prepare for the product landscape. Several editorials pleaded with contractors not to wait until the 11th hour.

But noooo, a large percentage of our contractor brothers decided to take the attitude of “What, me worry… I’ll deal with it when I can no longer get any more 10 SEER equipment.”

Well, when 2006 rolled around the s#$t hit the fan. Manufacturers couldn’t supply the right products to the right markets. Distributor inventories were out of whack. Contractors had to face the huge “sticker shock” from consumers, and in many cases put a new compressor in an old 7 or 8 SEER condensing unit.

Thank goodness the 13 SEER nightmare is behind us. But wait, we are only 18 months away from another potential industry headache in the form of the new refrigerant mandates from our friends at the federal government.

Don’t let history repeat itself. Don’t put your head in the sand.

Start preparing now because this new mandate will not only affect the refrigerants you can and cannot buy, it also affects the products and accessories that you sell - both residential and commercial.

Wake up and start getting ready, or it will be “déjà vu all over again.”