January’s most popular stories

One month down! Here’s a look at our five most-read stories from January:

EPA eases up on HVAC install deadline. “As of January 1, under current rules, contractors are prohibited from installing many residential and light commercial R-410A systems. However, ‘Enforcement of the current deadlines… is a low enforcement priority for the Agency,’ the EPA wrote in a formal statement issued over the holidays.” (Full story)

Nexstar chair on splitting with private equity, the year ahead. “I look at it and go, ‘You can be independent and pay as much as private equity.’ You don’t need them to meet wage thresholds or professionalize your organization. But competing against them will make you look at those things. And that’s what I love about it. So love them or hate them, it’s not even about that.” (Full story)

Lennox posts 32% drop in residential unit volume. “[The company] attributed the trend to continued distributor destocking, softness in new construction, and broader macroeconomic uncertainty, which it says has led to an increase in deferred system replacements.” (Full story)

Supreme Court asked to take on gas furnace rule. “Following a years-long back-and-forth among the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations over furnace efficiency standards, the Department of Energy in 2023 finalized a rule requiring all residential gas furnaces manufactured after December 18, 2028, to have an AFUE rating of at least 95 percent.” (Full story)

Tech giants should pay for residential HVAC installs, reports suggest. “In September 2025, nonprofit Rewiring America released a report estimating that data center operators could meet 33 percent of their projected additional capacity needs by subsidizing heat pump installations in the ‘tens of millions of U.S. households that currently use inefficient electric heating, cooling, and water heating.’” (Full story)