Today's winner a company that been in business for 90 years with A plus from BBB with 9 complaints. Offering a house brand furnace manufactured only for them by worlds leading mfg U>P>G or , which only one other company is big enough in Columbus , Ohio to do. ( what the smell you might ask?) we have 36,000 clients the second biggest has only 1,500 clients in columbus ohio. ( I am sure i stepped in something, there is funny smell. We are not the cheapest but we are the best. A variable speed 95% with 16 seer a/c $11,400.00 we have a special patented blue coil , that kills bacteria and mold. A non piston Txv valve that can be manually adjusted for precision on top of normal operation making it better than a piston Txv so match your system exactly by our Background check in house trained, certificated tech and installers . I will only do a load calculation if u buy system but think you stick with your current 80,000/ 30,000 setup. I took him up to my living room where my thermostat is taped to wall and the wires are stretched around the wall and told he my furnace furnace runs for 8 minutes and is off for 2 minutes when cold outside 6 degree's , well he says there is either something wrong with furnace or t-sat think to myself( ya maybe it is oversized). I will not do a load calculation in less you buy. So if i buy and you do load calculation and i need a 60,000 btu instead 80,000 will that save money? no it is same price!!!!!!!!!! He did a 1 minute duct calculation to say i had 1400 cfm both air/ return. For right size motor. ( which i can see) A day ago i was told by a guy who measured o bunch and took 15 minutes. which he looked at all my duct work and return vents in every room hold a piece of paper up to them which sucked to the vent and stuck. That i have 1410 cfm air / 1050 cfm return - i did add a new return , like guy told me to do. ( so it would be set for 3 ton system , i have 3.5 of duct work) Back to the greatest sales pitch ever!! 10 years no lemon Guarantee 2 years comfort Guarantee if not satisfied will replace system 10 parts 7 years labor 7 year twice a year check up included similar stat to vision pro life time exchanger on the round exchanger tubes! plus ten years on next homer owner compress goes bad with replace the whole unit! copper coils, not aluminum like the other companies. He says none of his competitors do this no one in ohio !( record scratching sound) I saw this advertised not but you but by you competitors think back to a website for another company i checked out. $11,400.00 before tax credit wow wow wow wow The best ever, if go out business ,or are rock by mass law suit where would i get there expensive custom parts and service from? did a little research (The Unitary Products Group aka york furnace brand, and coleman and Johnson control. Good 10 years product guarantee. but will product last 12 years.

As far as your ductwork, is it metal or fiberglass? You can't clean fiberglass. Trane and American standard are good units but for the extra price and the fact that you are looking to save money, it might be a great Idea to check with a Local NuTone, Tappan, or Westinghouse Dealer. These are Nordyne produts. You just might be able to get yourself a 16 seer Split heat pump with a Var speed blower motor on the indoor unit, and a 2 stage compressor on the outdoor heatpump. Since this system would qualify for the tax credit you would get $1500.00 off, or look at it like this. You would get free ductwork. All this for what you will most likely pay just for the Trane system. As far as warranty, Trane nor Carrier can touch the Nordyne products warranty If you go with the Nordyne you will get 10 years all parts and 10 year quality Pledge. If the compressor fails for any reason within 10 years, you don't just get a new compressor you get the entire outdoor unit along with labor allowance to replace it. Also the outdoor fan motor on the nordyne never has to be oiled. Trane just gives you a new compressor. Better warranty, more for your money, less maintenance. One more thing you don't need a seacoast kit for the Nordyne product. www.nutonehvac.com check out that website and you can see pics of the units.

Sorry for the confusion I caused with the new thread! The house is a 2 story colonial - 2,052 square feet plus a partially finished basement. How could I tell if the equipment was short cycling? I have been pretty comfortable with the exception of the second floor is sometimes hotter than the first floor in the summer- mostly addressed with the attic fan. I would not want to spend a lot of money to fix that. It has been a cool summer and not noticeable this year. That is why at least the one contractor that I asked did not think a two stage AC would be a good idea in this house. And why a 3 ton might be a better idea ��" although Manual J apparently says 2.5 ton (100% of cooling load ��" 26389 Btuh), if I understood what I read. Tigerdunes ��" what is a DF system (which you said you would not recommend)? Mike ��" I prefer leather seats in my cars! I was not sure I would actually be any more comfortable for the extra bucks since the rest of the house is from 1986. What should a contractor do to evaluate the ducts (if anything)? The ducts are not insulated as far as I can tell ��" just sheet metal. The house was built in 1986 with a heat pump system only. I converted to gas in 1996 ��" and I was thrilled to be able to do that. I calculated the cost of a therm by dividing therms used by total cost of gas on my bill ��" cost $1.28 per therm. I pay $13/month as a gas delivery charge whether I use any gas or not. I use about 560 therms/year (heating and cook top only). Using the same method, my total cost per kWh is $0.14 and I use about 19,000 kWh/year (everything else ��" hot water and clothes dryer, lights, etc). Contractor #1 did a Manual J and gave me the written report on software letter head (Wrightsoft Right J Mobile). Contractor #2 did not give me the Manual J but told me that he did it and it shows a total cooling load on the house using R19 insulation in my attic at 22,744 Btu's and a total cooling load at 21,750 using R30 insulation in the attic ��" which is not the same as the Manual J that I have in writing from Contractor #1??? According to Contractor #2, the Gold XI 2.5 ton A/C total cooling load at 95 degree outside temperature and 75 degree inside temperature is 24,400 Btu's. He said he could come back and take a closer look at the house if I would like. His original proposal has a 2.5 ton AC. Here is the updated pricing from Contractor #2: Proposal #1 - Supply and install an American Standard Gold ZM-80,000 Btu’s, 97% AFUE efficiency gas furnace and an American Standard Gold XI- 16 SEER 3 ton AC unit: AC AS 4A7A6036H1, single stage AC Furnace AS AUH2B080A9V3, 2 stage variable speed Coil AS 4TXCB036BC3 cooling coil. Thermostat AS digital programmable thermostat. Net cost to me $6,475.00 Proposal #2 - Supply and install an American Standard Platinum ZV-80,000 Btu’s, 96.7% AFUE efficiency gas furnace and an American Standard Platinum ZM- 16.25 SEER 3 AC unit: AC AS 4A7A7036A1- 2 stage Furnace AS AUHM1B080ACV3 ��" 2 stage variable speed Coil AS model 4TNCB036AC3 cooling coil Thermostat Honeywell Prestige 2.0 digital programmable Net cost to me: $7,925.00 Contractor #3 did not do a Manual J. I asked him for a price for the same Carrier equipment as Contractor #1 anyway. He said he was not able to do that because he did not inspect the work for an Infinity system. He would need to come back and look at the job to provide a price for the Infinity systems. That makes no sense to me because how could he give me a price on this system which was in his original proposal that contained the $4300 system? I had not included this option in my original post because it seemed like not a lot of bang for the extra bucks. AC Carrier Infinity 21 series two-stage 24ANB136A003 with a 3.0 ton cooling capacity Furnace Carrier Infinity 98 modulating gas furnace 59MN7080V17-14 Coil Carrier Infinity all aluminum N series vertical evaporator coil with an insulated jacket CNVP3717ALA with a 3.5 ton cooling capacity Thermostat Carrier Infinity touch series WiFi SYSTXCCITNO1A Mechanical Air Cleaner: model #:EZXCABCC1020 Power fan humidifier model #: HUMCCSFP1016 Net cost to me after rebates and discounts: $8,465.00 So one stage or 2 stage AC? 2.5 or 3 ton unit? Carrier or American Standard? Contractor 1 (5 year labor warranty through him), Contractor 2 (I think the 2 stage AC option might not be a good idea - 2 year labor ��" not sure if that is AS or him), or Contractor 3? What do you think of the Carrier 10 year labor warranty through Carrier? And thanks for your input! There were fewer choices 18 years ago. I am glad I am not sitting here with no heat doing this.

Zip Code 21234 is a Maryland zip. I am 21009 in Bel Air. FYI: A Carrier 21 SEER is not actually 21 SEER. Don't be fooled by the marketing bullsh%t. You should consider a heat pump w/gas furnace supplimentary heat (dual fuel or hybrid). You say it is not cost effective, but have you run the numbers? What is the delivered price of natural gas per therm? Post the model numbers of the heat pump condenser (or a/c condenser), matching indoor coil, and furnace, and we will provide the true SEER, EER, and HSPF from the American Refrigeration Institute. Good luck.