The heat advisory has A/C repair employees working overtime, some businesses are on call 24 hours a day. Employees with Advanced Mechanical in Davenport are trying to keep up with demand.
"We've been so busy that we've been recruiting help from out of town," said Advanced Mechanical owner, Rex Ellis.
Ellis is trying to gather as much manpower as possible to get customers through this heat wave -- "I could hire three more people and still stay busy. This drought here we've had is just hectic."
Even with everyone on overtime, Ellis says his company is still about four days behind on service calls.
"The phone doesn't stop ringing. When the office is closed, the calls transfer over to my cell phone, and it's ringing all night." Customers are frantic, calling Ellis in the middle of the night. If it's an emergency situation, he goes. "If they're elderly or sick, of course we're going to go," Ellis said.
But Ellis can't complain, business is booming. Revenue is up about 20% for the season.
"It is the heat, it's making these things work harder and is harder on the system," he said. "We put so many capacitors in right now, and capacitors actually help start the unit, the heat is just making these things blow up like a balloon, and they just go bad, it is the heat."
There may be a waiting list, but when the cooling crew arrives at someone's home to fix their air conditioner dilemma, Ellis says customers are elated.
"One lady said I saved her from getting a divorce because her husband was trying to fix it and made it worse than what it was."
