LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — As the temperatures rise around the valley, so do air conditioning calls.
Local technician Chris Wiley said the summer season is one of the busiest times of the year, and while he’s busy with requests, the supply chain shortage is holding him up.
In 2013, he started his business, Hot Desert Air Conditioning and Heating, but he said work is getting harder to finish.
“It’s not like it was about five years ago where you could go pick up units and know they would be there,” Wiley said. “I’ve had several suppliers out of units for over a month.”
He said many of the items he needs to complete his work are on back order. The even harder part, he added, is relaying that message to his clients.
“This is the situation, and you’re going to have to wait. That’s all you can do,” he said.
Michael Furman has been a Las Vegas resident for over 30 years and knows all to well those uncomfortable nights when your cooling system shuts down.
“Having air conditioning isn’t a luxury, but a necessity,” Furman said. “When it’s this hot, even putting on the fan won’t help. It will drop the temperature from the 90s to the 80s but it’s still too uncomfortable.”
Furman said he recently bought a home, but the AC unit was 20 years old. He told 8 News Now that being proactive saved him.
“We had it checked out and there were some issues but nothing major, but it was enough that I didn’t want to take a chance on another season,” he said.
Wiley said checking your AC unit ahead of the hot months is a wise choice to avoid a sweaty situation with unknown repair timelines.
“When you call for an AC problem it’s normally an emergency, most people don’t plan for their units to break down,” Wiley continued.
Wiley said he currently has three major orders, one of them on hold for about a month now. He suggested the best thing to do is check your unit often and don’t forget to replace the filters.
