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.

30 years ago, tipping every month was standard with paper delivery in our area (of course, not everyone tipped). Delivering papers is actually a lot of work, at least it was. Carriers used to have to fold the papers and put them in plastic if it was wet out. They had to get the papers out at the same time every day no matter what the weather. They had to collect the money -a huge PITA. They had to remember exactly where every customer wanted their paper. I wasn't a regular carrier but I was backup for one friend and my best friend had a route too After we babysat on Saturday night (usually very late - the parents worked at their family-run restaurant), we had to get up early to get that Sunday paper out. This was all when we were about 12 years old!

Hi Terri, you might try ironing them by putting a hand towel over them first. I think even an older kitchen towel that might be kind of thinner than a hand towel might get the heat to the paper better. If you have the whole newspaper(s) you might try a page or two that you're not going to use and see how it works. Steam - try it on your sample page first. The only other thing I can think of is flatting it, over time, between heavy books like they do for dried floral. Let us know how it worked and please post a pic of the final project as it seems like a great one and wonderful memories for you from your Grandfather. Sal

When we lived in the UK on a working holiday, we had a newspaper delivered by the local general shop even though another shop opposite my house sold them. It saved me getting dressed to go and buy it! One day the paper came with huge black writing above the front page headlines, demanding we paid our bill. This was upsetting as I always did on the day it was included in the paper. I was so angry at the vandalism of the paper that I went round, told them I hadn't had a bill, to the obvious scepticism of the manager, and paid up to date. I cancelled the service and thereafter went over the road (usually in a long coat over a nightie!) to get one. I still occasionally went to the offending shop for the deli products and one day the owner's wife came to me and apologised that my bill had been handed in by another customer. It had been included in their paper! She looked hopefully at me but I said that I had made other arrangements. Not the best way to treat a good customer, was it? Some people take their papers to read on the bus or train to work and that wouldn't have been pleasant to have such a message on their paper for all to see!