Personally, I haven’t noticed it myself. These store shelves that are supposedly soon to be empty? Haven’t seen those … yet. Pretty much anything I need from Amazon ships in a day or two. 7-11 still has Slurpees. Life seems good, other than gas and food prices, I have not really felt these supply chain issues, and other impending calamities, that everybody is warning us about.
Professionally, as the General Manager of a company that provides Roofing, HVAC, Solar Electric, Solar Pool Heat, and Solar Domestic Hot Water, among other energy conservation products … I am seeing it everywhere and, I am told, we are not the only company experiencing it.
Right now, if you want to buy a new shingle roof, from any company, you get to choose from only the shingle colors and quality that are available at the supply houses, not the full catalog. If you want a Mitsubishi 3-ton 18 SEER Air Conditioner (for example) you will have to wait until some time in 2023, maybe longer. We only deal with top-tier panel manufacturers, American when possible, and we are having to make several calls to source those too.
So, if we are feeling this, and so are our competitors, considering gas prices too, I see no way to avoid raising prices in the near future. We hate to do that. We try to stay competitive and still struggle to beat the price of the little guys with no overhead as it is. Our main appeal over the little guy who beats our price is that we have been in business for over twenty years and lots of these little guys are here today and gone tomorrow. It pays to spend a little more with a company that has a verifiable reputation for good work and will be around to service your system down the road. How much more, is the question.
The little guys are going to have to raise their prices too. I think they will find out last, and for some of them, it will be too late. Us, and the other larger companies, see what’s coming and are sharpening our pencils. If it is happening with us and our competitors, I have to assume it is happening in other industries too. Supply is already short of demand, and the market is going to have to correct.
I have also noticed that finance companies are sniffing the air. Interest rates and payment factors are rising, while terms are getting shorter. Those banker people are pretty sharp, and they are getting ready for something too.
Okay, so I have pointed out a problem and it seems tacky not to offer a solution. My recommendation is short and sweet. Don’t wait. If you’ve been thinking about getting your home tightened up and as energy efficient as possible, the time is now. I realize that, coming from me, this sounds self-serving, and it is, but one thing all of us can bank on, no matter what industry we are in, energy costs are going to rise, and probably more than they have in previous years. There is a movement underway by many Americans to mitigate the burden that is going to cause us all. I’ll address the self-serving aspect of this particular solution shortly.
Here’s why you shouldn’t wait. Once you get a company like mine under contract, we are bound to that price, no matter when the equipment comes in, so are the financing terms. We are going to try to minimize our price increase, and it will take some time to implement, but it is coming. Between now and then, our prices stand. I suspect that right now prices and finance rates are as low as they will be for a long time.
If you wait, you will pay more on cash sales, and payments and interest rates will be higher, and the length of time you can finance your equipment for will be shorter. The differences could mean thousands of dollars in the long run.
Here’s why this is important to us, the self-serving part I mentioned. When we sell you an energy efficient product, solar electric or an HVAC system, we strive to set it up so that it does not negatively affect your current budget. For example, If I put an HVAC system on your home for a payment of $75/month but it drops your power bill by $100, then, by buying from me, you are putting $25 dollars back into your budget every month. That’s a win, and makes buying from me a joyful experience, which is preferred. This supply and demand issue is going to make doing this more challenging. Some prospective customers will not buy from us unless this happens. Somehow, the fact they have a brand new AC, or Water Heater, or Solar Electric System, no longer has value beyond what it saves them immediately. This will cost us sales.
I like it when a sale is a “no-brainer” in that the decision to buy from me is easy. Typically, that is judged by the financial math. To be clear, the financial math works out now, and it will in the future too. Energy efficient products pay for themselves. With the power companies consistently raising their rates, my products will always pay for themselves. What I am pointing out, is that right now they will pay for themselves faster than they will in the future. I encourage us all to make hay while the sun shines.