In its September monthly TRENDS report, Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) reported that average sales for distributor members increased by 6.2 percent in July. According to HARDI market research and bench-marking analyst Brian Loftus, the hotter-than-average summer — which yielded 14.9 percent more cooling degree days this year over 2016 — triggered such a demand for cooling products that some areas experienced inventory shortages.
With an equally extreme winter predicted for much of the country, distributors who don’t want to get burned again are stocking up, offering training and preparing their supply chain partners for a busy heating season.