Tiger, my conflict is because I know I am being overcharged due to the rebate program. I resent that and just want a fair deal. I know that I am "losing" part of my rebate to the contractor who leaves me with just enough to make me think its a good deal because of the great financing. It is the financing which has made me decide to do it, that plus the attic sealing and insulation which I would probably not otherwise do. I ask a lot of questions because I like to be informed. Not really sure if heat pump will be worth it here either. They claim my energy "savings" will be an additional 5% or so, though a contractor not in the program told me they will manipulate numbers to make it work. Because the heat pump is slightly more efficient in my case I get a $1000 higher rebate, so my net cost is Actually the same. This is because the non hp option uses a more efficient hot water heater (needed for the program) that they are charging 400 more for, AND the rebate is 1000 lower. With those 2 choices the hp makes sense. It would make even more sense if the upgrade cost was not $1500. I could go tankless with non hp, get the full rebate, but cost is 500 more than hp. Figured I am more likely to see savings on the hp so not spending the extra 500. Anyway, after this heat wave i totally see the value in getting my attic done, so even though I will not be fully realizing the amazing 5000 rebate I will probably do it. My ac, in it's 16th year, had a hard time getting below 75 on these hot days, even the ones only in the low 90's. I'm sure it will be going in the next year or two. Neighbor paid 9200 beforerebates for a Lennox xc17 with an 80% furnace. I figure my higher eff furnace would cost more and so would a heat pump, but I know Amana would be cheaper than Lennox, based on that i think the 9200 is a reasonable cost to compare.... I will be spending about 11k for the Amana system, with a new power vent hwh and insulation and air sealing. I think that is reasonable (though I'd prefer a different brand ). I also think my price should be closer to 9k after rebates and that I am getting "only" 2000-2500 value of the 5000 rebate. I am also getting excellent financing. The dealer did do my audit and spend time getting my estimates together and revising them.....not 2500 worth of work. Decided to just do it if I can get the price dif between hp and not-hp lowered. I know you think I'm a pain, but what would you do? Would you accept a price you know is very high or keep asking questions? You have to,admit the price of 11800 is very high for Amana Aszc16 and Amvc95. (4 ton, 90k btu) Does any of that explain why I am conflicted? I am not normally difficult, only when I sense something is not right. Lucky for me when I buy cars there are sites to tell me what is fair and reasonable....being educated is my best option. I could just get an hvac but I don't see us ever forking out the $ for the attic work,separately, and I know it should be done. The attic must be done to get rebate so may as well do it. I hope you can see I am moving toward a decision. I don't want to bother getting more prices. I trust this co and now want to get the best deal that is reasonable from them. Just really wondering at this point how much wiggle room there might be on the Amana set up. The carrier is 2k more and I just don't see the value in it.

When we lived in IL, we had a 3-story home like yours with one unit. In the 8 years the basement was unfinished, we kept the vents closed, and even after finishing it, we kept all vents closed but the one in the rec room. I didn't know it might be a bad idea--it made sense to me to close off the rooms you didn't use, so that's what I did. I did the same on the 2nd floor to the guest room whose door was always closed and unused most the year. We lived there 12 years and never noticed a problem (but then, we didn't look for it either). I'll be interested in the answers you get because we'll be faced with a similar situation in our newly constructed house.

So I got a better bid today from a different dealer for the 126B 3 1/2 ton A/C. And the reason it was better is they measured the coil case and figured out they could put the new coil in the existing coil case (with a Bryant cover, not a Carrier cover) and save 3 1/2 hours of labor vs. removing the newly installed furnace. Does anyone see any problems with that? I kind of liked it as the furnace is working fine and I don't want it messed up. Also, the original dealer thinks we should get the 4 ton 126B since our old 3 1/2 ton A/C had trouble keeping up on hot days. Here is the AHRI #6364408. It is a generic listing, not for our furnace like the 3 1/2 ton is. Does that matter? They say they are confident it will work with my furnace, but does that impact the SEER, etc? I still have not heard anything re the new model that may be on the way, but the Bryant rep is at a training conference in Oregon so isn't as easy to get a hold of right now. I would appreciate any thoughts you guys have on these two proposals. Thanks, Cindy

Thank you all for the check-ins! It sounds like most of you are able to stay reasonably cool, more or less, in the house. Wanttoretire, sounds like the whole east coast is getting it bad. Any forecast of it cooling down at all? I don't think I knew anybody growing up who had A/C in the car. Riding in the back seat to our little family car with my two brothers and sister was horrible on those many hot days in central CA! Jay/mushcreek, yikes! That does sound depressing! I do remember you talking about your super insulation when you were building the house. The Hardi board is pretty solid insulation in and of itself, IIRC. Glad to hear about the mini split, since I'm planning to do that. llucy, glad to hear you're cool by comparison, lol! I remember being in Daytona for a race back around 1997, and it was over 90 and pouring, torrential rain! I'd never experienced that. Cooper, my brother lives in New Mexico, is a geochemist at the nuclear power plant. When they moved there a couple of years ago, they bought a house without a pool, thinking they'd put one in later. Never got around to it. So a few weeks ago a house came up for sale just around the corner from them. Pool included. So they bought it, quick close, and are now enjoying the pool, haha! Chris/Shades, again, good to hear about the mini split! My power bill was $59 last month, but I'm sure it will be more this month, because I've been running the window A/C and the fans more. Lass, yep, me too with the rain yesterday. I'm in Cheney. I was in Spokane Valley, and now from Cheney it's about 45 minutes to Post Falls, ID. So we're fairly close to each other. Today was lovely! Steph, so great to hear from you! I'm glad you're OK. I do the same thing, both to save gas, which seems to be going up daily here, and to avoid going out in the heat, which isn't heat at all compared to 110 in AZ! But I try to do all my errands in one or two days out of the week, I only grocery shop once a week on one of those days, then I can stay home, mostly inside, for a few days. Since I work from home, it also helps me stay on schedule. Hope everything's OK with the CT scan! murraysmom, I don't blame the dogs, haha! Sounds like things are under control with the A/C and the fans. Wow, I've never seen that iPhone message either! It must have been really, really hot. Good thing it didn't melt! I guess the watchword of the day is "stay cool!" :-)