Heat Wave Causes Power Outages for Home Air Conditioning Units in Central Indiana

A heat wave in central Indiana has caused widespread power outages for home air conditioning units, leaving many residents feeling hot and helpless.

Hope Plumbing, Heating and Cooling has seen a massive surge in calls from people whose ACs have gone out altogether. Before the heat wave, the company was receiving around 15 calls per day for heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) service. Since then, that number has skyrocketed to over 80.

Kaitlyn Park of Pendleton, Indiana, found herself in a state of panic when her dog sitter called to tell her that their old AC unit had gone bad while they were on vacation. "It's 87 and really humid in the house. Something's not right. Little bit of a panic knowing that it was coming with a heat wave with like 100-degree heat index and kids and pets and owning a business and working from home," she said.

Hope General Manager Kevin Kubacki explained, "This heat is really kind of put a lot of stress on people's older systems, and so we're seeing a lot of those fail right now."

While there may not be a perfect solution to prevent ACs from going out, Kubacki offered some advice. "Know the age of your equipment. Making sure you're getting those regular checkups is really important. Making sure that all the connections and filters and all those sorts of things are running well. As far as knowing when your equipment's going to go out, you know, it can be a surprise for a lot of people."

The Park family learned this lesson the hard way: "For us it was like, OK, we didn't know this was going to be an issue and so like totally find an expert to help you. YouTube's not always the answer."

Those experiencing AC issues may face a long wait for service as companies struggle to keep up with the overwhelming demand.