Thankfully, Trump’s regulators have taken notice.
Americans can scoff at Europe’s many barriers to affordable air-conditioning, but we need further reforms to prevent us from continuing down a similar path.
D o you think groceries, gasoline, medications, utility bills, and other necessities are too expensive? Consider yourself very lucky if you don’t have to buy a new air-conditioner. The Biden administration enacted climate-change regulations that target new cooling equipment, and these measures have created yet another affordability crisis — just as the heat-related death toll in relatively un-air-conditioned Europe underscored the importance of this life-saving technology. The Trump administration has taken steps to loosen up the rules, but more needs to be done to reverse the increasingly high prices that will persist for years.
A Biden Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation imposed new requirements on all residential air-conditioning systems manufactured after January 1, 2025, that necessitated equipment be redesigned to use climate-friendlier refrigerants. The change has sent prices skyrocketing.
The resulting sticker shock has been astounding. According to Edward Briggs of B&B Capitol Strategies, which represents the Florida Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Contractors Association, the total installed cost of a typical new residential central air-conditioning system in the state “is now around $20,000.” As recently as 2024, the same job “would have been closer to $15,000,” he told me during an interview. While other factors like tariffs, rising salaries for service technicians, and other federal regulations have played a role, he says the Biden EPA rule is by far the biggest contributor.
Overall, America’s regulatory war on air-conditioning is not as bad as that on the other side of the Atlantic, where crushing restrictions on cooling are partially why only about 20 percent of homes have it. The tragic death toll from recent European heat waves, with some estimating at least 35,000 people needlessly died, is a direct result. Similar or worse heat waves here have had a much smaller impact, which many researchers attribute to the fact that most homes in the country are air-conditioned.
But regulatory costs remain a threat for the people who might want to replace or upgrade their air-conditioning. And things could get worse, as the underlying law allows any future president to impose additional regulations.
Thankfully, Trump’s regulators have taken notice. Last May, the EPA finalized a modest rule change that would allow any air-conditioners manufactured before January 1, 2025, to be sold. These systems are generally both better and cheaper than the newer ones necessitated by the Biden rule, and they give consumers an alternative. Still, there are questions about whether enough of those models are left to make much difference to customers.
During an event held at the White House in May, Trump suggested he wants to go further and remove more regulations on household technology. “Now, we are going to get rid of the law that was signed quite a while ago, and we have to get rid of that, because ultimately we want to make it permanent,” he said.
Trump may not have known it, but the underlying law at issue was one that he signed in December of 2020. Called the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act (AIM Act), it was tacked onto a massive spending bill during the lame duck session near the end of Trump’s first term. It was enacted with little debate. The AIM Act’s provisions affect the price of both cooling systems and the refrigerants needed to run them. This law includes measures set to get even more stringent in the years ahead, such as tougher quotas on the refrigerants needed to service existing systems. And other costly provisions could be easily tacked on later, like Biden’s rule on home air-conditioners was.
The AIM Act is proving to be much more expensive than was advertised to the American public. In fact, the Biden EPA actually predicted that it would generate net savings. The boost in residential air-conditioning costs tells the real story.
Nonetheless, repealing or reforming the law won’t be easy, given the makeup of Congress. There are too many Democrats who, despite the rhetorical pivot from “climate change” to “affordability,” don’t really want to revisit past climate measures, no matter how costly. And there are too many Republicans who have been duped by claims that the current law supports American manufacturing jobs; in truth, the U.S. is a net importer of cooling equipment, and that includes much of the newfangled green systems.
But given the economic pain already inflicted on millions of homeowners, and with no end in sight, a repeal would be well worth a try. In the meantime, the EPA should consider further regulatory changes, such as allowing additional production of the older-style systems.
Americans can scoff at Europe’s many barriers to affordable air-conditioning, but we need further reforms to prevent us from continuing down a similar path.