Conway Air Conditioning president Ryan Brown, left, and home solution advisor Andrew Seeley, far right, surprised Aynor area resident Mildred Eccles with a new HVAC system on Monday. Photo by Chase Duncan/info@myhorrynews.com

Conway Air Conditioning president Ryan Brown, left, and home solution advisor Andrew Seeley, far right, surprised Aynor area resident Mildred Eccles with a new HVAC system on Monday. Photo by Chase Duncan/info@myhorrynews.com

Cooling winds of chance blew fortunately for 80-year-old Aynor area resident Mildred Eccles, who is the recipient of Conway Air Conditioning’s biannual, free-of-charge HVAC system giveaway to citizens in need.

Conway Air Conditioning president Ryan Brown and home solution advisor Andrew Seeley traveled to Eccles house Monday morning to deliver the news and install a temporary portable air conditioner until the full HVAC installation Wednesday morning.

“I’m overwhelmed, I’m shocked, I’m grateful,” Eccles said. “This is America. Nothing like this has ever happened to me.”

The full system installation will include a new Carrier brand condensing unit heat pump, a new indoor furnace, outdoor condensing pad, a new thermostat case, case coil and some safety float switches. Eccles previously cooled her entire home with a window air conditioning unit in the living room, which struggled to cool her home in place of a full conditioning unit.

“My health is very bad, and I have a lot of trouble with my legs. I really didn’t think I would keep going, honestly," Eccles said. "Healthwise, this is everything to me."

Conway Air Conditioning hosts its HVAC system giveaway twice a year in partnership with Carrier, which manufactures HVAC products and provides the free system included in the biyearly donation. The giveaway takes place once in July and once in December for Horry County residents in need.

Brown said the company nominated Eccles after learning about her struggles as an elderly widow living alone in a modular home with limited air conditioning.

“She's put in her time working and paying taxes, and the little bit of income she has, she's trying to survive off. And it’s tough living in a modular house, because those get extremely hot really fast versus a standard house,” Brown said.

Prior to the giveaway, Eccles had signed a contract to purchase a half of an HVAC unit from Conway Air Conditioning. Her selection for the giveaway will nullify the contract, allowing her to save her money instead.

Eccles received another gift from Conway Air Conditioning in the form of a gift basket made by Seeley’s wife and two daughters, ages four and six. The basket consisted of items like chocolate, socks, crossword puzzles, a coffee cup and a drawing made by the sisters, amongst other gifts.

“They wanted to make her a basket to bless her in a different way,” Seeley said.

Brown said the giveaways are Conway Air Conditioning's way of giving back to the community that supports them.

“We’re able to give back to people who support Conway Air Conditioning and take care of people who live in Horry County," Brown said. "We have that capability, and Carrier is willing to help us out with equipment. We love to give, it’s a blessing to us."

Brown said the donation will mark Conway Air Conditionings second year of hosting the giveaway, and that the company “doesn’t plan on stopping,” even if Carrier is unable to continue donating HVAC systems for free.

Reach Hannah Strong Oskin at 843-488-7242 or follow her on Twitter @HannahSOskin.

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This is the reason that my wife and I do all of our HVAC with Conway Air Condition they are great people to deal with and are honest as the day is long, they do all the work on our home as well as our rental properties and also do all the work for the church we attend .

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