Post all inclusive gas rate/therm and all inclusive electric/KWH.

I doubt there is any fuel leverage between nat gas and electric to justify a DF system that includes a Greenspeed HP or a high eff conventional HP.

This forum is not a pricing forum. Pricing can vary for many reasons, marketplace competitiveness, region, dealer, labor rates, type of install, etc.

IMO

Thanks for replying.

I wasn't sure if I was allowed to ask for pricing which is one of the reasons I didn't post any of the prices I was given. Was just trying to get an idea if the quotes were in line with what others have paid.

Gas per them cost - $1.03559
Electric is a little more difficult as we have solar installed and rarely have an electric bill any month. That's one of the reasons we were looking into the heat pump as an option.

The estimate that we were given:

Base system
Cooling - 10 SEER
Heating - 80 AFUE
Cooling cost - $387
Heating cost - $1695
Total Electric cost - $494
Total Fuel cost - $1589
Total - $2083

Heat pump
Cooling - 19.3 SEER
Heating -12.4 HSPF
Cooling cost - $205
Heating cost - $1225
Total Electric cost - $958
Total Fuel cost - $472
Total annual cost - $1430

Annual savings - $653

The annual savings would be higher given that our solar installation would offset a lot of the electrical costs.

Is the base system your current system? Who quoted you these numbers?

I am in central NJ and have PSE&G for gas and electricity. The rates are $0.87 per therm and $0.18 per KWh. It has cost me $400 per year to heat my house for the last two years with my gas furnaces. The house is 31 years old and 3300 sq. ft. Your quoted costs are much higher than what I would expect.

One of the guys who measured the house took an electric and gas bill and came up with these numbers. We just received them so we haven't gone over all our past bills. We have pse&g for electric and Elizabeth town for gas.

The base system is what he calculated our equipment uses.

I just realized you have two furnaces and AC condensers. Someone is proposing two Carrier modulating furnaces and two Greenspeed heat pumps!

I am curious to see these quotes. Can you post them?

I just had to chime in....My brother is about as cheap as they come, but he is VERY smart. (he is in Gloucester County, NJ)

He invested in solar about 5 years ago. His house is probably around 15 years old and has the original heat and air (one zone). If you have solar why on earth would you be worrying about your cooling costs? My brother did do some sealing and insulating.

With 2 zones, how high can your heating bill be? I assume you are mainly heating the downstairs and hopefully the heat does rise somewhat.

Knowing very little about this stuff, except what I learned when researching my own, I would probably only worry about replacing the downstairs furnace, since you probably run it more than the upstairs. The upstairs one shouldn't have to work too hard as the heat from downstairs rises and hopefully you don't set it too warm at night anyway. Get some air sealing and insulation in the attic and call it a day. Cold air leaking in could be why you feel chilly.

Also, does the fireplace draw in outside (COLD) air? AND, I feel that when I leave a very warm room that the other rooms seem cold to me, but they really aren't, it's just the comparison to the very warm room. Does that make any sense?

Just my 2 cents!

In order to do an operating cost analysis you need to know whether the excess electricity can be sold to PSE&G and is it the same rate you buy it. This will help decide whether you heat with the furnace or heat pump, and whether you should be the extra money on an inverter type equipment like the Greenspeed.

The gas rate seems high. Did you subtract out the fixed service charge?

Sorry, been busy at work last couple days.

I'll try to run some numbers over the weekend in an effort to get a cost analysis. The Mrs pays the bills so I'll have to get the past bills from her.

Cindy - It's not just cooling we are thinking about. With solar we make electricity year round so with a heat pump we'd lower our gas bill as well as cover most, if not all, of the electric costs of the unit.

Fireplace is gas and sealed. It's a high efficiency model with blowers.

Mike, forgot the quotes.

I don't want to post specific breakdowns but in general only copy quotes around $33k with $1500 worth of rebates. This was also for a 60 ton furnace.

The other quoted around $28k with $5300 worth of rebates. So this 2nd one comes in much cheaper especially when you include that it's for an 80 ton furnace and larger coils.

That's one of the reasons I initially made this post.

Furnaces are specified in thousands of BTUs. The cost difference between a 60K and 80K BTU furnace is going be about $300, maybe a little more if is a top of the line model. I think the cost difference in different size coils would be even less.

You have two systems. You should be able to get very nice Carrier equipment for less than $20K. The people who have quoted the equipment are looking to maximum their profit. The equipment that has been quoted so far is overkill and makes no sense in my opinion.

If you are near Mercer county send me an email. I can send the contact for the Carrier dealer I used to buy my systems 5 years ago.

Mike I'm located in Warren County but thanks for the offer.

Right now we're leaning towards not doing it this year.