So I need to replace my HVAC unit, and it’s going to cost around $8,000. I don’t have that much in cash right now. What would you do? Use a credit card or something else?
You could try a personal loan or a home equity loan. Some HVAC companies might even offer financing. A credit card could work too if you can get a good rate.
miko said:
You could try a personal loan or a home equity loan. Some HVAC companies might even offer financing. A credit card could work too if you can get a good rate.
Appreciate it, thanks!
miko said:
You could try a personal loan or a home equity loan. Some HVAC companies might even offer financing. A credit card could work too if you can get a good rate.
Totally agree with this.
A lot of HVAC companies have their own financing programs, but the terms can be all over the place.
Amar said:
A lot of HVAC companies have their own financing programs, but the terms can be all over the place.
Good to know, thanks!
Bigger HVAC companies usually offer financing with no interest for a certain period, especially if they partner with home improvement stores. If that’s not enough, you can try a personal loan from your bank or a new credit card with a balance transfer offer. Some cards offer up to 20 months of no interest, which might help.
@Teo
Thanks for the info!
A lot of HVAC companies offer financing with a no-interest period, sometimes up to two years. But be careful, if you don’t pay it off by the time the interest period starts, you could owe interest on the entire loan from the start. Even if no payments are required right away, try to divide the amount you owe by the number of interest-free months to figure out how much you should pay each month. For example, with $8,000 over 12 months, you’d need to pay about $670 each month to avoid paying any interest.
If that’s too high, and you’ve built up some equity in your home, a home equity loan is another option. The process is a bit longer, but the interest rates are usually much lower than credit cards. We did this for our first home to cover not only a new HVAC unit but also some home upgrades later on.
We went with a Wells Fargo loan for home projects. It took us about two years to pay it off. We were able to pay half in cash and finance the rest.
Others have answered how to pay for the HVAC unit, but going forward, it’s a good idea to build an emergency fund for situations like this. Ideally, you should save at least six months of expenses for emergencies, so if something like this happens again, you don’t have to rely on loans or credit cards. If you dip into the emergency fund, make refilling it a priority afterward.