Should I buy AC?

[in_his_glory]

To give context, I am starting a new job here shortly which means I’ll get paid double… I am really good with money and have an emergency fund and stuff (5-6 months emergency fund). We just bought a car because we’ve been planning to purchase and saved up more than half of it. We have to now replenish our “fun” nice to have savings but also need to get AC as we have children although the heat only lasts for 3 months here. I am unsure about the AC because the economy has been down and I’m worried that we’d have two new expenses to pay for that we didn’t have before in case something happens to our jobs or the inflation lasts long.

New debt broken down:
- car payment is about $400 monthly for 48 months
- AC is 18 months no interest about $500 monthly OR 60 months with 6.9% interest (totaling $11,000 cost)

We have portable acs we used last summer only downfall is that they are inconvenient for a child’s room.

Thank you,

 

[harmonylove]

@in_his_glory I would do it- installing AC in our home was the best thing we did when we found out we were pregnant. I'm shocked at your cost though- we have a 4000 sq. ft., three level home and the cost was about $5,000 to retrofit an AC to our existing HVAC system. (We're in Canada so the costing will be different from place to place, but my point is, make sure you shop around. One spot quoted us $8,000.)

If it's financially feasible, you won't regret it. Plus, an installed system is much more energy efficient than the window shakers. Like I said, when my wife was pregnant and beyond, even for the few short months of heat, it was beyond worth it.

I definitely understand the worries about the economy and large purchases though. Make sure it can fit into your financial plan, but even getting a slightly smaller unit so that it can eat least knock the extreme heat down on the bad days would be better than nothing for the wife when she's late third trimester and hates any temperatures above 19 C, haha!

 

[in_his_glory]

@harmonylove I live in WA and idk it’s so expensive $11,000 for 2000 sq feet. But thanks for the tips! It’s all helpful and something to consider especially since we have littles too

 

[elliott527]

@in_his_glory I only have a window AC unit but as someone who lives in Washington as well i just wanted to let you know that I absolutely could not go back to living without AC. The summers here are unbearable for me. I wish you luck with the decision!

 

[in_his_glory]

@elliott527 I have a window unit too but it’s so bulky in the home I’m not sure if I need to purchase all over HVAC system for ac

 

[fiollent]

@in_his_glory that pricing seems a little on the high side imo.

according to a quick search, it's usually around (3k~6.5k) 5k to 9k for installation for a 3 ton AC units for 2000sqft house.

i would get a second quote if I were you.

 

[in_his_glory]

@fiollent Oddly these are quotes from 5 diff companies I think my area is expensive… they all quote around 10k

 

[fiollent]

@in_his_glory OLIGOPOLY!

kidding aside,

I'm wondering why such a HCOL area doesn't already have A/C =/

 

[kanga123]

@fiollent It's been getting hotter during the summers here in Seattle but older houses don't have AC because there was never really a need for it.

 

[kanga123]

@in_his_glory Do you live near Seattle? I ask because I do and I've been wondering how much it costs to get an AC installed. Especially now that we have two kids.

 

[steviepugh]

@in_his_glory Did you look into minisplit systems? Those are cheaper, but not as hideable.

 

[in_his_glory]

@steviepugh Do these require window installations?

 

[saminjse]

@in_his_glory I would definitely get AC. It was important to us when considering houses for my comfort but also for safe sleep temperatures. It’s also nice when air quality is bad outside and we can close up the house and run the AC.

 

[fishergirlusmc]

@in_his_glory We installed AC after my area went through a few massive heat waves right when the baby was born. We tried moving to the coolest room, sealing it, rigging an ice fan, etc. But the temperature started climbing within a few hours. We were miserable and tried to escape to the mall with half the city during COVID. My husband had the audacity to come home from his air conditioned office at work and say the house didn't feel that bad. We were under contact to get AC installed within a month.

Also, we only have baseboard heaters, which are a hazard for children.

Now we don't have to worry about heat waves or fires and smoke

 

[seekingmuch]

@in_his_glory Window units - easy answer