Creators Syndicate

FIGHT BACK!  BY DAVID HOROWITZ 

Keeping Your Cool 
         
        If you've waited until now to buy a new air conditioner  or
replace a worn-out unit, you may find it's not as easy as  going to
your local appliance store and picking out the one  you want. Air
conditioners, particularly the smaller window  units, are in short
supply this year. Many large retailers  are sold out and have no idea
when they'll have more in  stock. 
        After last year's blistering heat wave, people bought  units in
record numbers in anticipation of another hot summer  ahead. Sears
Roebuck ordered 30 percent more air-conditioning  units from
manufacturers this year, and its warehouses are  already cleaned out.
Other mass retailers are also having  trouble meeting consumer demand
for air conditioners of all  types. 
        But picking up the slack in inventory isn't as easy as  placing
new orders with manufacturers. The key operating  component of any air
conditioner is the compressor, and most  of those are made in Asia and
South America. Orders for the  compressors have to be placed as much as
a year in advance to  assure delivery in this country. 
        The shortage is not uniform across the country. It seems  to be
less critical in cities like Dallas, Los Angeles, Las  Vegas and
Phoenix, where most homes and businesses have  central air conditioning
and there is less demand for window  units. So far, there seems to be
no widespread shortage of  replacement parts for these larger central
cooling systems. 
        The cost of repairs is something else. Simply recharging  a
leaky old air conditioner with fresh freon each summer is  no longer an
option. In fact, it's illegal. Freon is a  chloroflurocarbon gas, which
depletes the earth's protective ozone layer in the upper atmosphere. In
an effort to reduce  the release of CFCs, the law now requires that air
conditioners be gas tight and in good working order before  they are
charged with freon coolant. 
        Adding to the cost of repairs is the fact that the cost  of
freon has gone up 10 fold in the past few years. Then  there's the
requirement that air-conditioning technicians be  trained and certified
and that the old freon be reclaimed and  not allowed to escape into the
air. This all takes time,  training and special equipment, and it all
costs money. 
        The hit on your wallet is even heavier for repairing 
automobile air conditioning. Recharging a car's air- conditioning
system used to be cheap and simple. The mechanic  simply opened the
system, let the freon bleed out and  refilled it with fresh gas. Not
any more. Now, repair shops  must recapture used freon in a special
machine that cleans  and recycles it to be used again. The entire
system must also  be pressure tested for leaks, and any leaks must be
repaired  before it can be recharged with freon. All that -- the cost 
of the coolant, the added labor, the recycling and testing of  the
machines, and mechanic's certification -- has tripled the  price of
recharging freon air-conditioning systems. 
        The cost may be high, but with another long, hot summer  ahead,
I suspect many people will pay almost any price to  have air
conditioning in their homes and cars. 
        If you have any questions or comments, please write to  David
Horowitz in the Consumer Forum+ (go FIGHTBACK). COPYRIGHT 1994 CREATORS
SYNDICATE, INC.