13 Million Americans Are Struggling To Keep Their Homes Cool—but the Fix Can Cost Over $2K

For millions of households, having an air conditioner doesn’t necessarily mean staying cool.Over 13 million U.S. households said their homes became uncomfortably hot for at least 24 hours in 2023, according to an analysis released on Wednesday from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. Among households that had air conditioning but still experienced excessive indoor heat, 42% cited an equipment breakdown—the most common reason by far.The findings land as another round of punishing late-summer heat bears down in some parts of the country. Temperatures in the Southwest and Southern Plains are expected to reached near-record highs through Friday as a powerful heat dome lingers through the first week of the start of meteorological fall.Extreme heat can make functioning cooling equipment a necessity, but the cost of keeping that equipment working can come with a price tag out of reach for a majority of Americans.Nearly 8 million households had at least one cooling-related repair in 2023, at an average estimated cost of about $2,200 per unit, according to a separate 2025 analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.Meanwhile, half of U.S. adults told the Federal Reserve...