Field Notes Watch · 2026-W30 · 2026-07-24
This week in HVAC — refrigerant rules, response time, and the AI question (W30)
The week in one paragraph: Three things worth your attention this week: the refrigerant transition keeps moving (your suppliers will start shipping A2L equipment whether you're ready or not), response time is still the emergency-call decider, and the useful version of AI in the trade is the boring one — answering, routing, drafting — with a human on every promise.
refrigerant-rules · via EPA + trade coverage
A2L refrigerant transition: what changes at your supply house
If you install split systems, R-454B is becoming the default whether you planned for it or not. Start asking your supplier what they'll actually stock in your area — the answer varies more than the headlines say.
Read the source →business-practice · via Field Notes research
Response time still wins emergency work
The first company to answer usually gets the no-cool call, and right now that's often whoever has a machine answering. You don't need one — you need any system that acknowledges a customer in sixty seconds, even if it's just a text from your own phone.
Read the source →technology · via Field Notes research
AI in the trade: the useful version is boring
Answering, routing, drafting, reading data tags — that works today. Anything that promises, prices, or diagnoses alone is a liability with a marketing budget. The rule that sorts it: does it make a person faster, or quietly decide for them?
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