July’s most popular stories

As the second half of this year picks up speed, here’s a look at our five most-read stories from the opening month:

How Trump’s megabill impacts contractors. “During a July 4 ceremony complete with a bomber jet flyover and fireworks, President Trump signed the ‘big, beautiful bill’ into law… The nearly 900-page bill, ending months of uncertainty, includes a plethora of tax and spending cuts, several of which will have a direct impact on HVAC contractors nationwide.” (Full story)

Google will now call contractors on consumers’ behalf. “Google began rolling out a new AI feature in the U.S. that will call local businesses on users’ behalf to gather pricing and availability details… The feature covers all U.S. states except Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, and Nebraska, Google said, though it didn’t disclose why those states are excluded.” (Full story)

SupplyHouse lands private equity investment. “HVAC-focused e-commerce distributor SupplyHouse has received a strategic investment from private equity giant KKR, the company announced… No financials were disclosed… The deal marks a continued trend of institutional capital flowing into the distribution layer of the HVAC industry.” (Full story)

Trump extends global tariff pause: HVAC’s state of play. “Dozens of countries’ tariff rates were set to snap back to higher levels on July 9, as a 90-day pause announced in April expired, but President Trump on July 7 pushed the date to August 1.” (Full story)

Lennox CEO, CFO on consumers, residential volumes, and tariffs. “‘As anticipated, [residential] sales volumes declined, mainly because contractors and distributors are still selling through their R-410A inventory,’ said CFO Michael Quenzer. ‘The slowdown was also influenced by continued softness in residential new construction and industrywide shortages of R-454B canisters,’ he added.” (Full story)