All the ways to get a free air conditioner this summer

The forecasts for this summer are already out and it’s expected to be (say it with me now): Hotter! Than! Average!

The fact of the city getting seemingly hotter every summer — while utility prices continue to go up and the ever-warming planet creates a doom loop where we run machines to keep us cool that in turn further warm the planet — is not something we can handle here today. We’re dealing with the very real pragmatic fact that some people in our claustrophobic and often-shoddily built city will need an air conditioner to survive the summer. 

Air conditioners can be pricey; the top one recommended by Wirecutter will cost you a cool $331. But public programs exist that can provide you with up to $800 to get a new one on your own. Even more than that, this is a reminder that this city is full of perfectly good junk waiting for you to find it: people move, roommates come and go and more basements and closets than you think are full of fully functional air conditioning units, waiting for you to find them.  Let’s take a quick tour of those options: 

The HEAP is on 

The state’s Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) is the main way to get public assistance for air conditioning and fans. If qualified, you can get $800 for a window or portable A/C unit. The program is available to people below a certain income threshold — starting at $3,322 a month for a one-person household — or anyone who receives SNAP or other kinds of public benefits; you can also qualify if you have someone in your household with a medical condition that is exacerbated by extreme heat.

Apply here; they have 30 days to consider your application. 

The request period opened in April and usually stays open until July. And if you’re wondering: is this good thing at risk due to the Trump administration’s attack on Good Things That Help People? Of course it is! So far, it seems like the program is still funded and accepting applications this year, but don’t wait too long. 

Get something from Buy Nothing Groups 

The thing about getting a free air conditioner is that sometimes you’re doing someone else a favor by taking it. Maybe someone is moving to a climate-controlled building and has to get rid of their old window unit, and the process of getting Sanitation to take it is actually a pain, so having a stranger just take it for free is often the easier option. 

So, trade your personal data to Macedonian teens again and prepare to revel in AI slop, because Facebook’s free-stuff groups still provide one of the easiest ways to nab an A/C unit for free. I checked my local Buy Nothing and found five listings for air conditioners in the last month alone. And college move-out season is happening right now too. 

Just ask a mutual aid group

Mutual aid networks that popped up in the pandemic are still going strong, and many of them can help match you with a free air conditioner or air conditioning donation. Some of these have a formal program — I spent the summer of 2020 collecting and installing A/Cs for Clinton Hill Fort Greene Mutual Aid — but others just work as a big group chat where you can ask if anyone has an extra cooling unit laying around. Find your local group here to get started. 

What to say to your friend who hates air conditioning 

Oh yeah, I had a friend like this once. You know what happened? He got a girlfriend and the next thing you know, he was borrowing my granny cart to haul an air conditioner back to his apartment.

The ethics of using a carbon-producing machine to nullify the effects of carbon in the atmosphere have been much debated over the years. But ethical considerations don’t do much when, say, the city is entering its fourth straight day of 90-degree heat and you can’t even go outside due to wildfire smoke. The City Council has considered a bill that would make air conditioning in the summer mandatory, like heat in the winter. Suffice it to say: use A/C when you need it, but please please don’t keep it running all the time. 

In terms of personal preference, I’m of two minds about air conditioning: I'm a sucker for a cold box of a room after a hot day at the beach, but I try not to run it too often to strain the grid and lead to catastrophic utility bills. But also, we have elder cats and they can’t exactly escape the apartment to go dunk in the ocean.

Whenever I think of summer in the city, I’m drawn to a quote in Lancelot, by Walker Percy, in which the title character says: “Christ, I still hate air conditioning. I’d rather sweat and stink and drink ice water.” Sweat means you're alive and breathing, that your body is pumping through another city summer, with all its rare joys and challenges. Enjoy the sweat when you can, but if you don't take the free air conditioner, do consider paying for some deodorant.