That time my furnace quit on the coldest night of the year

Last January my furnace died completely at 2am when it was 8 degrees outside. I had to call an emergency HVAC guy who charged me $450 just to show up and tell me the blower motor was shot. Turns out I could have used a cash out refi to cover the $1,200 repair instead of scrambling with credit cards. Took them 3 days to get the part in so we used space heaters and froze. Has anyone else had a sudden home repair that made you rethink your emergency fund?

2 comments

2 Comments

sean_walker451mo ago

Damn, 3 days in 8 degree weather with space heaters sounds brutal. That's the kind of wake up call that makes you wonder how the hell you'd cover the next big thing.

sarah2291mo ago

...and we had a similar scare a couple winters back when the furnace went out for about 12 hours. I didn't even think about space heaters until the house hit like 45 degrees. My wife was wearing two coats inside and the dog kept trying to crawl into bed with us. We ended up at a neighbor's house because the pipes were starting to feel cold. Now I keep a couple of those little propane heaters in the garage "just in case" but honestly I don't know if they'd actually keep up if it was that cold for days.