BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – After three days of extreme heat, car ACs across the region are feeling the pressure and repair shops are filling up.
But one woman says she won’t spend another cent fixing her AC.
Thea Aspasia of Colchester uses a spray bottle to beat the heat because every time she tries to turn on her air conditioning it sounds wrong and smells like gasoline.
“This really helps because I use it to spray myself and my kid every now and then during the drive, and this is a life-saver,” Aspasia said.
With no AC, Aspasia says these past few trips to work have been torture.
“It’s dreadful,” she said. “I try to leave earlier and come back later.”
She says her car’s AC broke last year from the heat, and while she’s tried to get it fixed by spending more than $1,500, she says in the heat, it still always breaks and she’s not spending another dime fixing it.
“Unfortunately, the science is pretty clear that extreme heat like what we’re going through in Vermont right now and around the country, is something we’re going to be seeing more and more of as the climate crisis gets worse,” said Ben Edgerly Walsh of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group.
Edgerly Walsh says with more extreme heat, he expects more cars to be less efficient. At Bouchard & Sons Garage in South Burlingto, they’re seeing that play out in real-time.
“The phone is ringing off the hook for AC jobs right now,” Service Manager Michael Healy said.
Healy says new air-conditioning units can’t handle the heat and humidity.
“The newer style AC, the 1234, is less effective than the old-style 134a used to be,” Healy said.
So with our summers getting hotter, AC units becoming less effective and car costs staying high, Aspasia back in Colchester looks on the bright side.
“It’s really like driving around your own personal sauna,” she said.
Environmental advocates say the Vermont Climate Superfund Act that just passed considers events like the extreme heat we’re witnessing, and if those funds come in, they may not fix your car AC but could put units in your home or local school.