Low-income Seattle households eligible for free AC units

Got heat? Don’t sweat it. 

Low-income Seattle households may be eligible for free air conditioning units this summer. 

Byrd Barr Place, an organization providing social safety net services to Central District residents since the 1960s, runs the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, through which households can receive a new unit.

Applications are open for the low-income program and the Puget Sound Energy Home Energy Lifeline Program. Both can also support households by paying energy bills, repairing or replacing furnaces and refilling oil tanks. Households can apply for one or both programs, according to the organization.

Households that qualify for the low-income program may also receive financial aid to pay past-due balances on energy utility bills or past-due rent, if facing eviction. Payment ranges from $200 to $2,500.

Payment aid through the Puget Sound program ranges from $250 to $1,000. 

Byrd Barr Place makes the payment — which is calculated based on household income, number of household members, energy usage and housing type — directly to utility companies, the organization said online. 

To be eligible for energy assistance, households must live in Seattle and in certain ZIP codes, use electricity, natural gas, wood, propane or oil to heat the home and meet income guidelines. 

Households can apply for energy assistance once a program year, which began Oct. 10 and runs through the end of summer. 

If a household receives an air conditioning unit, members will not be eligible to receive another for seven years.

Heat is an invisible force but its impacts have been well documented, putting at risk some of society’s most vulnerable, including people with health issues, older adults and those without access to indoor shelter or cooling. Chronic health issues and access to medical care is heavily correlated with income.

Across the Pacific Northwest, climate change is driving longer heat waves, more 90-plus degree days and warmer nights.

Temperatures can be particularly brutal in places with fewer trees, tall buildings, industrial areas and highways — areas where marginalized communities disproportionately live. 

Seattle Times staff reporter Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks contributed to this report.