Aside from the obvious fact that it is summer and it is nice to be able to travel without handing over an arm and a leg at the pumps, HVAC contractors have good reason to be celebrating the lower gas prices.

The average price per gallon dropped by $1.25 between 2012 and 2015, to $2.43.  The average price per gallon, this year, is expected to hover at or just above $2.25, which Is fabulous news for those working on HVAC systems.

Why the big smiles?  The HVAC industry is closely tied to the gasoline prices, because there is a great deal of transportation involved.  Not just the shipping of large system components, sensors and controls, but also the movement of the fleets of contract vans and trucks.

While some, due to the rising gas prices would shrink their service area, thereby reducing the amount spent to travel to each jobsite, others were forced to expand their territories, raising prices or assessing a fuel surcharge, in order to find a reliable customer base.

Now, these contractors are able to breathe a sigh of relief, able to work within their original boundaries, not having to explain the addition fuel surcharge, and operating vehicles without being hammered at the pump.  This year is also full of promising news for HVAC contractors.  Not only are gas prices expected to hover at their current state for the remainder of 2016 and 2017, the HVAC market is also growing by leaps and bounds, as consumers seek eco-friendly, cost-saving, efficient systems and upgrades.

With more work coming in and annual gas expense having fallen, in some cases by tens of thousands of dollars, HVAC contractors have very good reason to be smiling.  In addition to all of this, the hard stretch of high gas prices and economic struggles have led to HVAC operations being even more efficient than ever before.  Those high prices ensured that companies took painstaking efforts to ensure that the fleet of vans and trucks were used in the wisest manner possible.  The closest to the call reports, the vehicles are offloaded of any unnecessary material at the end of each day, in order to ensure that the best fuel economy is achieved.  The now lower prices just mean increased savings and a better bottom line.