Hi ESH!!! So good to hear from you. I am as good as to be expected, thanks for asking. My drawbacks are weakness, lack of muscle tissue and motor movement. I weighed this morning after my shower and it was 180 lbs. A far cry from the 226 that I use to weigh and I am 6 feet tall. I don't fall anymore (knock on wood) as I have learned what causes it and can work around it. My sweet corn is over with. Had two patches of it planted at different times. Have already mowed down the first patch and planning on doing the same to the second patch this weekend while my wife is off work and can help me hook up the 6' mower to the tractor. The field corn is making and this morning I rode the buggy around it and pulled a few ears and took over to my sisters. It turned out pretty good. Have about 2 acres of it, so don't think there will be any shortage... we need some rain really bad, but will take whatever the Lord gives us. The Pinkeye Purple Hull peas are about to mature and they love dry, hot weather anyway. The white acres have not started blooming yet, but have hopes for them.\ Okay on Mrytle Beach vacation. I envy you, but am not jealous. Maybe you can have some low coutry boil (aka frogmore stew) as they are known for it in that neck of the woods, I believe. Don't worry about stopping by as I am not very good company right now anyway. Just a lonely old man... lol Appreciate an update on your son being he has his drivers license now. Yall be careful an enjoy yourselves. GGG, good luck with your late corn. If you were closer I would gladly give you either sweet corn or field corn. Love you guys. Shot

Which way is most efficient depends a little on the house design. If the ductwork for the upstairs is in a vented attic and the downstairs is in a more controlled space (like a basement), then what you have is the most efficient setup. I basically intentionally do what you are doing because my downstairs unit is more efficient and the ducts are all in conditioned space. The upstairs winds up being cooler than downstairs which works well because we like to sleep in the cold. It is generally more efficient to run a furnace for longer periods of time so I wouldn't worry much about that. But if you are using a heatpump and this setup pushes you into backup electric strips, you're killing your efficiency. So the details of your systems is important.

Well, its always been reccoemnded here to get 3 estimates. We had 2 AS estimates for a 14 series 2.5 ton unit and 16. Todays will be for a similar TRANE 14i unit, matched vs blower, new freon etc. This dealer said he seldom sells the 16 because he feels it won't payback...but would gladly quote and install one. He is also working up a price for a 3 ton unit. There company actually put my unit in the home 20 years ago when it was built. He said the 2.5 ton would likely be fine but that the builders put in the bare minimum back then. He thought that we might actually want a 3 ton. He said that might assist in our 'too hot' issues upstairs and get some more air up there. He said it also should help in the winter. I actually asked about the 3 ton. He is working up two quotes but only if the 3 ton will not be overkill. He asked and I had the plans for the house and he took them along to do some calculations after asking about any upgrades we did to the home since bult....which were none since we just moved in. The down side, if the 3 ton were too big would be wind nosie thru the ducts. That is a concern because I like it quiet. Still to aleviate that we could put register in a duct in the basement. In fact, he asked if we ever planned to finish that floor and we said perhaps so I guess that will get included in the calculation. He said it may take a few days to get a quote...but then we may be away on vacation so it may be a while before I can say we what we chose. Funny, he did not push to even swap out the 20 year old unit. He seemed to have no problem waiting until it died and told many of my type are still goin strong. I'd say though that we are sold on the 14 as opposed to the 16 at this point, based on price, likelhood of $$$recoup and advise received in this forum. Is there typically a big difference between a 2.5 and 3 ton sytem? There was a post that was surprised by the 2.5 ton.....did one suspect that was too small or too big?

Only the light switch needs to be at both locations and frankly, unless you have some goofy local code or this is a stairway, there's no requirement for even light switches at both entrances to a room. Almost every fan I've seen can have the motor and the light controls split and you can put the latter on a three-way if you like. The reason the instructions don't tell you to put the surge suppressor on an oversized breaker is because there's no point in doing so and it is ILLEGAL. Do not use a large breaker than the ampacity of the wiring connecting it. Most of the ones I've seen you do not put on a larger than 20A breaker. Having lost phones and del modems and a well pump, I believe on putting surge/lighting protection on everything I can find. These suppressors are cheap "insurance". Yes, there is very MUCH a limit on the number of wires in a given box. It's called Box Fill and a bigger discussion than I can type into this box. Get a good electrical book (Wiring Simplified is one) or google box fill. You protect the feeder from the main panel to the sub panel with a breaker appropriate for the wire. It matters NOT what the rating of the sub panel is. #2 is appropriate for 100A breaker on copper type NM, You can protect #6 with a 60A breaker for type NM. Other wire types may have different ampacities. Your heaters are NOT in series. Again you need to size the breaker for the wire. You must protect 12-2 NM with a 20A breaker (or smaller). I'm assuming we're talking about 240 V heaters? If not you're math is way off. If you're using 240, the 20A breaker and 12-2 is fine. Most home center employees including this one is a complete idiot and dangerous. NO, YOU CAN NOT put breakers into a panel for which it is NOT listed for. Yes they may fit and may even work, but it is ILLEGAL. Do NOT do it. Schneider is commonly Square D by the way (just like Eaton is Cutler Hammer). A QO breaker won't even fit in your Siemens panel. The HOM breakers might fit, but again, are illegal to use.