The Irish Independent newspaper has recently reported that businesses in the UK and Ireland are suffering a spate of thefts of air conditioning units. Externally mounted units have been removed from the walls and rooftops of a number of business premises in recent weeks. Air-conditioning units contain copper and aluminium, which is being targeted by thieves because of the high scrap prices currently being paid.

Units considered large enough to yield profits are usually attached to businesses such as pubs, shops, restaurants and specialised warehousing. This type of unit is full of copper and aluminium as units contain a condenser with a copper tube, and evaporator with a series of copper zigzags. The pipes running between split units are copper which is very appealing to metal thieves.

The variety of larger air conditioning units are typical of those used at a big technology or pharmaceutical building. Air conditioning units of this kind could contain 40 or 50 pounds of copper. For the thieves it is a simple matter of disconnecting the electrics and the piping. It would need quite a bit of muscle power to lift it so it is likely a few people would be required to shift the spoils.

These air-conditioning units cost thousands for a business to replace, but the yield to thieves is minimal. Even with copper and aluminium priced as high as they are currently, the scrap value from one large unit might be as little as €30 or £25.

The theft of air conditioning is a major issue in the US but metal thieves in Ireland and the UK have only recently started targeting them. Thieves of this type previously concentrated on public statues and sculptures, gates, copper-roof flashing, and metal manhole covers.

For some businesses, these thefts have had a silver lining as many companies are looking to replace air conditioning systems to comply with new legislation and the thieves have saved them the trouble of disposing of the old units. Units take on average thirty minutes to steal if the metal thieves know what they are doing. In some cases, air conditioning units are being stolen even before they are installed! One wholesaler cites and incident where they delivered cooling evaporators to a client in a rural area which weighed more than one tonne each. The next day they had disappeared – the target of metal thieves.

There are security cages available for a few hundred pounds that may be installed around roof-mounted air- conditioning units but these are really designed to protect people from damage from the units rather than the other way around. However, some organisations are finding this is becoming an essential security measure combined with the health and safety aspects.

The only trouble is, the cages are made from metal as well so it is quite likely the thieves will be adding more to their loot and stealing the cages too!

Companies that have been targeted are stepping up their security systems, as replacement air conditioning systems are very costly.