I saved a ton of money by updating the air conditioning

Inherited a motel on the edge of town from my aunt Martha. She didn’t have any children of her own, so she helped raise me for a time when my mother was sick. Anyway, we were really close, so she left me her business when she died. She had run it on her own for over 40 years.

The building had been built long before Martha owned the motel. It was an old school place that looked like it belonged in American Graffiti. I really liked that we still had the original sign out front from when the motel was built in the 50s.

Aunt Martha had made improvements when she bought the place with some inheritance money of her own in the early 70s. She built an addition to the office building to house a bodega with a small bar in it. She said that she had seen convenience stores that were also bars in Chicago, and thought it was a good way to make money from people that wouldn’t necessarily ever stay at the motel. For a time, it had been a pretty popular watering hole because there wasn’t much else around. That’s rural Oregon I guess. Martha never really got around to making more improvements after she opened. It was a steady source of income as it was when she got older but the motel fell into disrepair and closed for a little while towards the end of her life.

So it took a bit of work to bring everything back to code and livable shape. I also wanted to improve on the place, and was looking to save money in the long run with my improvements.

Prehistoric combination air conditioning and heating window units had been installed when she first took over so when I got the place, some were broken, or way overdue for some repairs. I decided to just rip them out and I added more efficient ductless combined heat and air conditioning systems to each unit. AC World gave me a good deal so it was surprisingly easy to do. My guests really like the easy controls. I also added more efficient double-paned windows to further reduce my energy costs.

I was able to hire 4 people to help me and my daughter run the place, and now things are going great!