I bought the Carrier Performance 17 2 stage in a 5 ton.. I'm in Very South Texas where its so humid you walk outside and you start to drip.. I'm very happy with my decision to go with this A/C.. It mostly runs in low speed and then about 4:45 it usually kicks into high speed for about 30 minutes to an 1 hour.. The temps here have been between 100-103 and it has done a great job keeping up in our 2700 sq ft house..

We had a Carrier Infinity 16 Seer heat pump installed last month. I wasn't expecting miracles with the dehumidify option as we live in a basement condo in DC. It gets miserably humid around here. I assumed it would just help make it less terrible.

I can't express how shocked I am with this unit. We just ditched our freestanding dehumidifier. No need for it anymore. I had to turn the humidity level up after the first week because my skin was cracking, in JULY, in DC. I can't speak for the 2-stage, but the Infinity is pretty awesome.

Can you post the model numbers of these two units? The Infinity condensers are available in two stages only. The Performance condenser is available in single or dual stage.

In my opinion the two stages are worth the extra $300. I have seen humidity as low as 35% with my Infinity two stage condenser.

Thanks everyone for the info. Really helps out. Mike, I was under the same impression regarding the infinity but apparently there is the anb6 which is infinity but single stage scroll. The other units considered are apa7 and apa3. Another question arises which is why the exterior of the apa3 performance is more like the infinity series with weather guard ultra cabinet and the apa7 which is more $ is lesser? Maybe to achieve 17 seer with air flow? Also the apa7 says 71 db and the others are around 66db is this a big difference in noise.

Yup I have the apa7 with the infinity control and I read somewhere that they changed the cabinet design to achieve the Higher 17 seer..

Does your Infinity unit have a variable speed fan? If not you won't get the advantages of the high SEER number.

Mine does... Very Nice addition I might add..

My furnace does have a vs blower. Does this work much like it does in heating by selecting the proper fan speed or should I just run it at low speed all the time. Anyone else have any input as to how well a single stage ac will dehumidify with infinity control and furnace? Xand83 is your 16 heat pump single stage

Our condenser is a 2-stage Performance. But the air handler is an Infinity variable speed along with the Infinity thermostat.

Do not buy anything until you have looked at the Carrier Greenspeed Modulating 20 SEER. I just put one in my home, amazing! 35%-130% capacity swing. Link below. Best Dehumid available.

I am kind of surprised no one has mentioned this, being that it is Carrier Infinity.

Here is a link that might be useful: Carrier Greenspeed Modulating 20 SEER