OK

Florida's HVAC market is jacked compared to everywhere else that's reported in.

Yes, the prices are appalling.  Especially compared to places where AC is a luxury not life support.

The licensing requirements are steep.

The state and county regulations are numerous and hostile.

So my ducts will seem to be very expensive if you live in a more permissive location.

There's also the trust factor.  Do I trust the company that's doing the work?

In my case, yes.  They've dealt with me honestly in the past.

We've already experienced the shady side and we're willing to pay more for someone who will actually answer the phone when we need warranty work done.

We haven't even scratched what the federal environoweeny regs will be doing.

If you haven't had your HVAC done in the last few months and are expecting it to be like it was 10 years ago, be braced for a bit of a shock.  $2,000 systems are near $7,000 now because they can't just use refrigerants that work, they have to be under patent or they will destroy the ozone layer.

I'm still waiting on the explanation about how a heavier than air gas gets up to the ozone layer.  I'm also waiting for an explanation about how a gas that breaks down into harmless sub-components when exposed to sunlight survives the climb as well.

Freon just... can't do what the alarmists say it did.

Speaking of things with low probability:  How did all that CFC in North America not create an ozone hole at the North Pole?  Most stuff stays on its side of the equator and the southern hemisphere is way behind the northern for emissions.  Yet smoke stays up north, but CFCs damage the south?  Pull the other one, it has bells.