A friend of mine is an elderly man, and his A/C has gone out. I'm trying to help him out in coming up with more affordable solutions. He has a home warranty, but the unit has no freon in it-- it all leaked out. He needs a dozen pounds of freon (literally, R22). His home warranty technician quoted him over $100 a pound for freon that would total well over $1000, plus there's some repair costs that the home warranty he has won't cover for another $600. We're looking at about $2000. He's an older man whose hospital bills wiped through his savings, he was laid off (his company he worked for many years closed up) and now he makes a lot less than before, had a heart attack, and a lot of unexpected bills in recent years-- his credit is bad (mid-500s, he thinks.. dreadful). He doesn't have credit cards or a way to finance it.

If you had an HVAC unit that's 15+ years old and leaked all the freon, would you replace the unit with a new HVAC?

Any financing options around here for people with tragic credit scores like him? Do any HVAC companies actually finance for bad credit?

Should he repair or replace the outdoor unit?

If it were me, I would just live without A/C, especially if I had poor credit/not enough $ savings... But at his age, I'm trying to help him find some options until he gets back on his financial feet. Like I said, I can't give him the total amount, and he can't/won't take it from friends/family. He's not in the position to relocate to another state where his family lives, and they really don't have room anyway (tiny city apartments). He works, so he can't vacation elsewhere a few months until it cools off (and he has no emergency fund yet anyway).

His windows don't open up enough to install a window A/C unit, if at all. He's got ceiling fans, so there is that. He's making money again, but ~$2000 is a lot for someone with recent health/job woes in recent years to come up with all of a sudden.

I've been trying to help him rebuild his credit this year and get back on his financial feet, it's just taking some time. He's been paying off hospital bills first before creating an emergency fund. But, I can't think of any options for him other than to live without A/C and save up the money. It would take him about 2-3 months to save up for the repair, then it would be winter.

What would you do if you were him...
- live without A/C a few months and save up to repair your HVAC
- get a new HVAC after saving up for a few months
- something else?

Any good sensible options out there that I'm missing that I could suggest to him?

I'm sure it's got to be a common problem for people with how the economy has been in recent years.

Have you tried Craigslist? August isn't really the month you want try and live w/o AC, especially the elderly.
HVAC Technician At your SERVICE. (http://oklahomacity.craigslist.org/biz/5119572492.html)

Are you sure you can't get a window unit in there…it might be worth breaking the pane or even dismantling the casing to install a window unit.

If not, does he have somewhere he can spend time between 8 and 8 for the rest of the month? The home shouldn't get too hot before 8 and it should cool off a bit by 8.

If finances are that tight though, since we only have about 5 or 6 more weeks of constant oppressive heat, I'd do everything to put that cost off for the next 10 months.

Are you sure you can't get a window unit in there…it might be worth breaking the pane or even dismantling the casing to install a window unit.

If not, does he have somewhere he can spend time between 8 and 8 for the rest of the month? The home shouldn't get too hot before 8 and it should cool off a bit by 8.

If finances are that tight though, since we only have about 5 or 6 more weeks of constant oppressive heat, I'd do everything to put that cost off for the next 10 months.

+1 on reinvestigating another option for a window unit. there has to be a way at least 1 window will open enough to install.

Have you tried Craigslist? August isn't really the month you want try and live w/o AC, especially the elderly.
HVAC Technician At your SERVICE. (http://oklahomacity.craigslist.org/biz/5119572492.html)

I've looked at Craigslist this week, but none offer hvac financing that I've seen, and it's going to be at least $1500 worth of work including the freon. Unless some HVAC company is offering freon coolant for under $100/pound, but I haven't found any that do. His needs the old type of freon, and contractors are charging a pretty penny for that. He needs a dozen pounds of it, and I'm guessing I can't find a contractor that will throw in some coolant for $500. A jug of that old freon at auction is maybe $200 or less, but contractors upcharge it so much. It's not something homeowners are allowed to touch as far as I know.

I might try e-mailing the craigslist hvac posters and asking for a quote for what he needs done. Maybe we'll luck out.

I used HVAC solutions to put a new unit in a few years ago, ran about $2000. If the unit is that old might be worth to just buy new. No idea on financing.

I'll have to look at his windows closer. All the windows I've seen in his house are bay windows or living room windows that don't open at all. I wouldn't want to cut into a large window for an A/C unit, but at least it would solve the problem short-term. There's a tiny laundry room window that wouldn't open but a few inches, and is way too narrow to stick a window A/C unit it. That room is across the house from the living areas, so it wouldn't be ideal and might not cool off the bedrooms any. It would probably be worth a try, and if nothing else, he could sit in the laundry room a while to cool off.

It's a good 78-80 degrees at night in that house. It'd be liveable for me, though I would rather he not have to do it. He might just have to find a library or coffee shop to sit in during the daytime hours after work... that's a good idea.

Hmm. In 5 or 6 weeks, would opening windows at night cool the place off enough to have it in the 70s inside during the day? I can't remember what the average weather is like around here.

Putting the cost off would be ideal, especially just in case something else comes up (like more hospital bills) and he runs into another problem. We're so close to winter that it just seems a shame to have to throw down money in his situation right now.


Are you sure you can't get a window unit in there…it might be worth breaking the pane or even dismantling the casing to install a window unit.

If not, does he have somewhere he can spend time between 8 and 8 for the rest of the month? The home shouldn't get too hot before 8 and it should cool off a bit by 8.

If finances are that tight though, since we only have about 5 or 6 more weeks of constant oppressive heat, I'd do everything to put that cost off for the next 10 months.

I mean, it's Oklahoma weather, it's hard to predict, but I think we should only have about 3 more weeks of unwavering oppressively hot days. From late August through Mid-September it's usually fluctuating between 80-low/100-high days and 70-low/90-high days, where as Early August is just a barrage of the former.

An A/C system should never be low on freon. If it is, then there's a leak that needs to be found first before dumping a bunch of freon in. And your friends sounds like a bad leak if it is completely out. Did a service tech run a check on it and determine that it was that low?

If it is, the leak could be in the condensing unit /compressor or in the A-Coil. There shouldn't be any joints in between the two that would leak, as any reputable installer would use roll copper. If it is leaking and the system is 15 yrs old, it may be better off to replace the whole thing. It would sure be more efficient.

T&S heat & Air came out and replaced ours and did a good job. You might also call Keller H&A. They had financing options when we used them to install a complete system some years ago, and they made it easy to afford.

I'm running an 18-year-old unit. No leaks. However, it can't last too much longer, so unless the next repair bill is minimal, it's time to replace.

I do not know if this might be a viable solution, but have you looked at the Mitsubishi AC ductless system? We see these on HGTV all the time, but mostly outside the US. They are available in the US, according to the official Mitsubishi AC site. They appear to be much better than a window unit, which can be stolen, as the Mitsubishi system is placed inside on a wall. I could not find a cost for one, but you can Google to see if anyone around here has them. If he could have one in the bedroom and one in the living room, plus a fan or two, that might be sufficient to get him through the situation he's in now. The cost may be prohibitive, but it's worth investigating. Just a thought for you...and thank you for trying to help him.