It took two years but we finally saved enough for a new HVAC system.
My husband and I have a limited income and not so great credit but we were lucky enough to have the opportunity to purchase a fixer upper that won’t take too long to pay off.
Unfortunately, the central air conditioner doesn’t work. So, my husband and I popped a few window air conditioners in a few windows and we now deal with that. We live in a subtropical area with very mild winters and space heaters are sufficient. Now we are saving up money for a new central HVAC unit. We know it is going to be pricey because a good, energy efficient HVAC system is expensive, as is paying for installation, and I’m pretty sure that we need all new ductwork. This place is pretty old. So, a friend suggested that we reduce our utility bills by turning off the air conditioners. He claimed he cut his power bill in half by not using his a/c. To me, that’s crazy. I will live off Ramen Noodles before I will go without air conditioning. I knew that there had to be other ways to cut costs. We kept the window air conditioners on, but we turned them up four degrees. I could settle for that. We invested in fans and kept the house opened up in spring and fall. I found that I could deal with that too. We took other small steps, like using a clothesline and buying in bulk. And we did eat a lot more Ramen Noodles. It took us almost two years but within the next month or so, we will have the money for a brand new energy efficient HVAC system