Air cooling units selling out in P.E.I.'s early heat wave

As temperatures in Prince Edward Island hit 30 degrees this week, some Island businesses saw an increase in demandforair cooling units.

Tammy Clory, assistant manager at the Charlottetown Home Hardware, told CBC News she sees about100 people a day coming in looking for some kind of cooling device, from fans to portable air conditioning units.

She said the store is selling out faster than they can restock.

"The demand being very high, there is an impact because of COVID-19." said Clory.

"Our trucks are delayed so our supplies are delayed, straight from the manufacturer."

High demand spurs hiring

One heat pump installation company told CBC News it's seen a 40 per cent increase in business over last summer. Heat pumpsalso provide cooling, but must be professionally installed.

"We're having a hard time keeping up actually," said Roy Vandermaar, provincial manager for Greenfoot Energy Solutions in Charlottetown.

"We have three full-time sales people that are on the road and they're currently booked until middle of July just to provide quotes."

Vandermaar told CBC he's hiring another installation crew so that he can keep up with demand.

"We had no idea what would happen after COVID," said Vandermaar.

"Would people want us back in their homes, were they going to put some money aside, and not want to spend ... money on heat pumps right now. But we didn't see any drop in business."

Vandermaar said the company installs six heat pumps a day, and is booked through until August.

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