Big time budget buster...AC went out on me. :(

[Kika]

It went out a few weeks ago, and I got them to do a temporary fix (add coolant). I have some kind of leak. They said they weren't sure if it was going to last one day, one week, one year, etc. Well, it cr#pped out on me again this afternoon, so I guess now we know how slow the leak is!

The house and the AC unit are both 10 years old; looks like I am going to have to break down and buy one to the tune of $5k. (They quoted me $5k for the older model and $6300 for the newer, supposedly more efficient, model. With the newer model, they said I can get some kind of $1500 tax credit. I need to look into this.)

Thank God for emergency funds. I am still pretty depressed about having to spend that much $ on a repair (just had a $$$ car repair not too long ago...it's always something), but I suppose I should be thankful that I have it to spend. Also, I don't have much of a choice. Here in FL, AC is not a luxury, IMHO anyway.

I have a different company coming out within the hour (because the first company that came out a few weeks ago hasn't returned my call yet). I guess I'll see what this company says.

 

[eliza61]

OMG Kiki
mine went south 2 days ago. This year has been hell on my budget. first my roof went and now my ac unit. Of course this is happening the week temperatures around here are 92 degrees with 90% humidity.

I'm expecting it to run about 6K to replace. So far this year, I've dropped 20K on repairs to the house.

Totally wiped out my savings too. I've got a family reunion in wdw next august (2011). thankfully I have my dvc and enough time to save up but man, it's getting really depressing.

if you go to the community board I posted a thread asking how long can you last without A/C. LOL
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2496000

 

[xanphylus]

We had the same deal here in Ga about 2 months ago. And I agree- AC is not a luxury, but a necessity! It has been mid 90's here all month and humid as all get out. We had to cancel our trip to WDW due to ours..... Our system ended up being $7,000!!!! Ours also had the heating system crap out too. We went all winter with no heat. But as I said- we live in ga- didn't matter too much- But no AC, uh huh!! We got our system and love it, even without our WDW trip.

 

[bootleg89]

Same thing happened to us at the beginging of the month. Our added coolant lasted 3 days, 2 of those days the ac wasn't running. Our furnace was 23 years old. The guy told us that if it was a newer model no way would it be working still. He said that our ac was so old they no longer used that kind of coolant. It really was time to change it. It ran us $5000 but it's one less thing to worry about. Been though on the budget since we planned to change those out next year since we desperately needed to replace the fence this year which ran us $2200.

 

[Kika]

Thanks, all. I feel a little better, at least knowing that I am not alone.
(eliza, I just replied on your thread, too. )

This AC guy just added some more coolant, but to be honest, it doesn't feel any cooler in here. Thermostat is reading 82.

He quoted me $5200 on the 15 seer (supposedly the more efficient) unit instead of the $6300 that the first company quoted me. So, they are going to come on Monday or Tuesday to install it, depending on when they can get it.

I'm gonna run to Home Depot to see if I can get some kind of small stand up unit for now until then for sleeping tonight. Or may just rough it until then...not sure yet.

 

[QVCshopper]

My AC went in Dec 08. It started smoking out of nowhere and cost us about $5K to replace. But, the summer before that it wasn't working very well; the summer after we were much cooler and our electricity bills went down. Ours was also 10 years old and went sooner than normal b/c they initially installed the wrong size SEER. Sorry about yours, but things break down, and at least you have an emergency fund.

 

[tinkmom2]

Our window AC died on us. Not as bad but we ended up throwing it out. We had another one we could swap out in our DD's bedroom but it isn't cooling as much. We will just have to tough it out till next year.

 

[G's mommy]

This sounds very familiar! Our a/c went out 2 weeks ago, the week it was 95+ every day in GA! If it weren't for two portable units, we would have had to pack up and move in with family along with our 2 indoor dogs until it could be repaired. I have a neighbor who does a/c work on the side, ran me just $2100 for a new unit installed. He saved me a bundle! I've put a transmission in my car and new a/c unit all within a year. What vacation???????

 

[Gigi22]

Condolences! My A/C is wonky, but running. Unfortunately my 19 year old furnace has been red tagged. We are replacing both systems this summer, since they are the same age. The one thing I can't risk is having the furnace quit in the middle of winter--it can go down to minus 40 here, and pipes freeze in that kind of weather. If it were just our A/C behaving badly, we could ignore it for a year or so--but the furnace not working forces the issue. You don't want to have to replace a furnace in the middle of a cold snap.

 

[livie1205]

our therm went out on ours during the coldest snap we had in FL this year! I was sooooo mad , we had to spend a good amount on a new one but it works better and as saved on the bills a little...the other one was the reading the temp the right way.

 

[luvdisney00]

Joining in this thread of woe! We just got a new furnace and AC last week but thanks to the kidness of a friend in the business we got a really good deal. We knew we needed a new furnace, it was 23 yrs old, but the AC was only 3 yrs. old (replaced it just before our 07 Disney trip!) The whole thing was fried, had several people look at it, and no one is really sure what happened to it. The company that installed it had gone out of business and we didn't seem to have any recourse from them, it was 95 and we had no choice but to buy a whole new unit. On the upside, like I said a friend gave us a good deal on a new unit, and it qualifies for a tax rebate, and it is COOL in here.

Some would say we should cancel our trip, but I'm just not. We need this trip, and it is paid for, we just have to increase our efforts to refuel the EF. I am glad though that I planned this trip on a tight budget, as opposed to others that we have taken. Thank God for FD and Disney Visa points!