Just a comment to alectrician and the general populace - there really are a lot of people that DO NOT have money to buy new wires, new furnace, new ***. And they can not get it. It is just not there. Not a decision to buy wires or a new yacht. THEY HAVE NO MONEY! Even if their choices are losing the SUV, or taking the kid out of college, or pay for whatever upgrade or repair we feel is necessary, it is not necessarily a trivial trade off to the person involved.
This theme shows up in various posts on various forums. Not just here on Terry Love's site (and actually less here than some other places), and it tends to be worse the more specialized the forum. The "customer" just wants the best price, and that is intrinsically wrong, it is some sort of moral defect, and it is undermining my right to charge $xx because I have experience, overhead, and want to feed my family. Granted, there are people that could pay the $nn price but choose to optimize their expenditures. If they choose only price as the selection criteria; that is their problem.
There remains those people that say "I can not afford that" , "there is no money to do that" and literally have to choose between drugs (good drugs), mortgage, food, clothes, and whatever is declared as the "proper" solution to a failure or problem with a home system (heat, water, power, etc.). They can't borrow money, live paycheck-to-paycheck, and earn minimum wage or less. You really need to appreciate the view of someone in this position when a **** (fill in the trade), says that in addition to very expensive parts, the customer needs to pay $50, $100, or $200 an hour to have the work done. Think about what these kinds of rates mean to someone grossing $8 an hour (ignoring social security, taxes, etc.). At $100 per hour for service, that is 12.5 hours of work by the customer (not including your sales tax) per hour of your time purchased. It is all a matter of scale.
I am not suggesting you should all work for essentially nothing because the person with the problem says they do not have the money to do whatever you say needs to be done. That is a personal choice. But could you just lighten up on this subject and also share options that can be afforded. Telling someone that they and all their loved ones will die a horrible death if you do not acquire $nn immediately, is neither helpful nor particularly humane.
Just please be respectful to the people that say "I have no money to do that" and cut them some slack in suggesting solutions when it really is true. I know you can't tell on the internet, but just assume. Give a good way (expensive) and a minimal cost way that provides reasonable safety and solves the immediate problem.