So What Does Our 2011 Mid-Season HVAC Distributor Survey Tell Us?

Today HARDI released to the public the results and analyses of our 3rd annual joint HARDI-JP Morgan Equity Research Mid-Season HVAC Distributor Survey. While I encourage you to read the detailed report yourself which is available for download via a link in the actual release, this year's survey gives us several important insights:

1. 2011 is not going to be a major "recovery year" as many in our industry had projected



2. The residential HVAC business appears to be in the midst of some significant, long-term structural changes



3. Commercial HVAC is better than expected, but not because of long-term positive indicators like new construction, but rather repairs and minor upgrades just enough to limp through another 5 yrs or so



4. We are far from realizing the true impact "dry-shipped" R-22 residential units are going to have on the HVAC industry



5. Inflation is already hitting our industry and will be a major issue unless we can find ways to keep our products affordable to the average residential and commercial customers

There are a lot of findings in this year's survey that many in the industry aren't going to like. It's time we start facing these headwinds and begin adjusting accordingly.