Hello everyone,

We are in the process of replacing our heat pump. The air handler inside unit is a 20 year old Bryant and the outside unit was replaced 10 years ago with a Payne by our home warranty when we moved in to the house. The unit has never worked right since - high heating bills and constant freon leaks and defrost control boards replaced every few years - all in all - a piece of junk that I want gone yesterday.

We are in the process of getting quotes to replace at least the outside unit - several people have said the inside unit is still fine. Obviously the cost to replace the Payne unit would be the least expensive.

We currently have a single stage unit - 4 ton but are looking at a two stage at almost twice the price! Yikes!

Our house is approximately 3000 square feet - 1500 square feet ranch house with full finished basement below grade level.

I know we want to have a manual J load calculation. Besides that - this is where my eyes roll in the back of my head with every brand and which one is best.

Are there certain compressors we should look for? I know installation is important too - what should we look for in the installation process to make sure we are not going to end up with the problems we are currently having with the Payne (literally a pain!)