A note about sugar ratio and percent: To say a 1:4 sugar:water mix is 20% sugar is incorrect; the sugar is in dry, granulated form and the water is (obviously) liquid. The sugar industry expresses sugar concentration as percent sugar by weight (mass for you scientists) also known as Brix; where one Brix is equivalent to 1 gram sugar dissolved in a 100 gram sugar solution. This is the number a sugar refractometer will give you. A cup of sugar weighs 200 grams. A cup of water weighs 237 grams. A 1:4 sugar mix is 200 grams sugar + 948 grams water = 1148 grams total. Percent sugar by weight or Brix is: 200g / 1148g x 100 = 17% (rounded to the nearest percent). You 1:4 purists are only offering half the sugar concentration found in natural nectar preferred by Hummers! So, get over it already... By the same method: A 1:3 sugar mix is 200g / 911g x 100 = 22% by weight A 1:2 sugar mix is 200g / 674g x 100 = 30% by weight A 1:1 sugar mix is 200g / 437g x 100 = 46% by weight Benjamin F Tucker was among the first to mass-feed hummers in the 1930s and '40s. He used laboratory glassware to make his feeders (no Perky-Pet or Droll Yankees back then). His work was described in the December 1946 Popular Mechanics article: "Hummingbird Cafeteria". The lead photo shows 22 of his 'beaker feeders' lined up on wood shelves. A quote from page 125: "If you supply artificial nectar - half water and half sugar - he'll stay long after blooming time." Sounds like a 1:1 sugar mix to me - 46 Brix - and I don't believe he poisoned a single hummer... (PM December 1946 may be found on-line - I'll let you figure that out for yourself...) - waw -

Tom, the garden isn't looking too good. Even though I covered my Pipevine, the leaves appear to be burnt to a crisp. Down lower I do see some green leaves and I am hoping the roots were protected enough. I didn't lose any last year but I also had more mulch around the bases than this year. My tall red pentas are goners again. I brought in some of my Salvias since the hummers do use them. Cape Honeysuckle looks damaged but not dead - yet. I may have 1 or 2 male Rubies - the other morning I was seeing one about every 8 minutes. Makes me think its more than one. The Rufous was here today. If you go to Florida Gardening Forum I posted some pics from Tues. morning. Various birds that came to feed and there is a pic of the Rufous. The posting title is Busy Morning in My Yard. Did you get my email that I forwarded from Doreen?

Yes, you can pretty easily add a media filter to any furnace/heat pump - They sell sizes which match up pretty well to most units I installed everything myself - 60K/90K gas furnace, 3.5 ton 14 SEER A/C, media filter and Honeywell Vision Pro thermostat along with all associated wiring and piping. Paid a pro to evacuate and charge it along with the necessary adjustments and I have about $4K in the entire install - Not much of that was ductwork though Our 'dust factory' is slowly getting better as we make the house more and more airtight. We added $4K worth of high efficiency windows (installed them outselves) and all new entry doors (4 of them) along with 4 cases of caulk and we can now almost afford to live here - $125 to $135 electric bills so far this summer and that's for 2250 sq ft of house Every inch of plumbing and electric wiring has also been replaced along with a brand new kitchen and bathroom. 4 rooms done, 1 under construction presently and 2 more to go downstairs . . . . and then we get to start on the apartment unstairs. One year down, one more to go . . . . we hope. Our home of 28 years was washed away in Katrina and we just got moved out of a FEMA trailer and into the not yet finished house this summer, so things are LOOKING UP!! Don

A 2TWR3042 heat pump combined with a 2TEE3F40 air handler is indeed an XR13 rated at 40,500 btu-hour, 14 SEER, 12 EER, 8.2 HSPF. A little low on HSPF but you are in Florida so no big deal. Otherwise, these are good numbers especially the 12 EER. I think that it is smart to replace the 2 refrigerant lines. You won't have to worry about any junk from the old lines getting into the new system. As far as the v-s blower, it is an ECM motor, extremeley quiet, and adjusts it's speed based on constant CFM output. These are the latest and greatest motors. The pros love them because they can adjust their speed based on ductwork conditions and provide a fixed CFM. They are also very expensive to replace. Some poor girl many months ago paid $1000, part-only, for an OEM Bryant ECM motor. My entire Goodman air handler was only $700. There are dip switches in the air handler that have to be set by the installer for the v-s motor to run properly. The v-s blowers are touted to people who like to run the fan all of the time to help circulate air in the home. In this mode, the v-s motor drops to about 30%, and you can't hear it if you are standing next to the air handler. There is a setting called "Comfort R", offerred by Trane, that slows the air handler down to provide better humidity control when the a/c is running. I am not sure if this is a function of the air handler or t-stat so you should ask Mr Trane. For pricing comparison, an April 30th quote for a 3-ton XR13 in Baltimore was $4600, different heat pump and air handler. Your performance numbers are much better than what I was quoted. Your pricing looks good. I wouldn't let the R22 be a major factor in your decision. I just installed a new 3-ton, 14 SEER, 12 EER, Goodman heat pump in June. I chose good old R22 and a fixed speed fan in the air handler. These were my personal choices after many days of research. I too am I mech engineer employed in the steel industry. This HVAC stuff is side interest to keep my brain cells communicating.