HVAC
Metals prices hit near-decade high
“For HVACR businesses, this upward trend suggests that embedded input costs within equipment and system components may face renewed upward pressure in the months ahead,” HARDI wrote
Economy
Plumbing
From drain pipe to halfpipe: Olympic snowboarder Maddy Schaffrick is a former plumber
“She wanted to learn. She was curious about everything, and she would go after things the way she always attacks her snowboarding”
HVACPlumbing
Ferguson Ventures bets on HVAC, plumbing technology
In 2018, Ferguson launched an in-house investment arm to back tech startups serving builders and HVAC and plumbing contractors
HVAC
Carrier residential sales fall 38%, unit volume ‘over’ 40%
While executives projected the decline, “we all got surprised by the magnitude” of the overall downturn during the second half of 2025, CEO David Gitlin said
HVAC
Women in HVACR preps for ‘new-collar’ workforce
In conversation with Jane Sidebottom, the nonprofit’s newly-installed 2026 president
Plumbing
A.O. Smith expecting ‘flat-to-down’ residential unit volume in 2026
The residential business is facing pressure from a slowdown in new construction, though replacement segments remain resilient, per the company
Plumbing
Plumbing fixture, gas water heater wholesale prices climb through 2025
Indexes for plumbing fixtures and residential gas water heaters rose roughly 10 percent year-over-year in December, per the BLS
HVAC
HVAC wholesale prices grew 5% in 2025
The sharpest climb came earlier in the year, between March and June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics
HVACPlumbing
BBB program enlists home service contractors to help fraud victims
There were nearly 82,000 fraud reports in the “Home Improvement, Repair, and Solar” category in 2024, per the Federal Trade Commission