Your geo is so cheap that it is probably worth it even at your crazy cheap electric rates. I don't really know the climate in OK but in central NC, at your rates, you are looking at $500 a year for conventional ASHP and $350 a year for geothermal, so your payback is close to 30 years. That is assuming you use enough electricity from other things to get to the lower rates for most of your heat. And it is assuming that the house is built fairly tight. Your insulation levels make me think OK has a fairly mild winter. Geo makes more sense as your winter temps decrease and then it also tends to last a lot longer so your payback becomes the lifespan on a heat pump. And since you were quoted Goodman, that might be less than 10 years. Geo will also make more sense as your electric costs rise to more normal levels. At some point, electricity won't be 5 cents a KWH. Your math changes dramatically when it is 10 cents. Given the inability to get any money safely on investments and the low borrowing costs, it make financial sense to prepare long term for inflation. So even a 30 year payback makes a lot of sense since that doesn't factor inflation -- if this is your home you plan on living in for a long time. Heck - I plan on getting PV - it is basically a 5% ROI but that is great right now and it is a hedge against inflation

The furnace model number with the XR16 is an XC80. Very similar to the XV80 but communicating. Must be a mistake. TCONT803 is a fine thermostat to use with the XR16 air conditioner and furnace. Overall, I do not agree with the equipment matchups proposed with the furnaces and air conditioners. Oversized furnace on both systems, and oversized coil to achieve marginal efficiency gains on the XR16 system. I realize you may not understand all the implications of oversized equipment, but it is a big deal for comfort, efficiency and reliability. All things considered I still recommend the heat pump system. This post was edited by ryanhughes on Wed, Apr 24, 13 at 13:54

I recently got quotes for both a Water Furnace (series 5 and 7 - 3 tons in size) and a ClimateMaster Trilogy 45 (1860). I know several people around me that have Water Furnace systems (both series 5 and 7) and really like them. With being at these people's houses, the thing I immediately notice is how quiet the systems are as you really can't hear them running. I don't know any people offhand that have the Trilogy 45. The ClimateMaster installer said he's installed a few Trilogy 45 systems so far and has several more to install in the coming weeks. He said people love the idea of the geo providing all of the hot water and that's one thing that has me leaning towards the Trilogy. The other thing is that because of the variable compressor, it can output more heating btu's than I should ever need. My heating load comes in at just under 40,000. Since the Trilogy is fairly new, I'm trying to find any people's experiences (good or bad) with a Trilogy system.

I apologize for not replying sooner and thank you for your responses. EJF: Not sure why the unit was spec'd with a 5-ton when originally built. The condo is about 2200SF with 10ft floor to ceiling windows and is facing the west. The corner units, although a little smaller have two 4-ton units instead. Perhaps the windows and sunlight are a big factor? Also, unfortunately I am the first one in the building that is looking to upgrade the HVAC units to one with variable speed fan and compressor etc. As far as I know, HVAC units with variable speed fans and dual or variable stage compressors will ONLY have full communicating functionality (with the unit’s variable fan/compressor working in harmony) when the unit is matched up with that manufacturers specific communicating thermostat for the units as well. Yes, most any thermostat will turn the Heating/AC on and off, however, it will not be able to control the variable fan speed or compressor and subsequently will not benefit from the energy savings and comfort features that these systems are specifically designed to provide. I had a variable speed fan with dual stage compressor along with fully communicating thermostat at my last condo, so I’m very familiar with how much energy it saved me, but more importantly for me, the added comfort from that system, which I feel is worth every penny. It seems that a lot of HVAC dealers don’t even know that their flagship systems need to be mated with their proprietary thermostats so I’ve seen a lot of people with variable speed units paired with a standard color touchscreen wifi or Nest thermostats. The system works fine but couldn’t compare to my fully communicating system. fsq: Thank you for the advice for contacting WF and asking for their qualified dealers. As far as price, I was just curious to know what the retail price of a 5-ton WF series 7 is. Actually, I don’t need to know the series 5 price nor do I need to compare them, because I agree with you – get the best! But since ur in Canada, I guess pricing is different. Also just wanted to note for others who might not know, the word “communicating” in the HVAC world may sound like it has to do with an internet connected and/or wifi capable thermostat, but it doesn’t at all. It only means that the variable furnace/air handler/blower fan (also called ECM Fans/Motors) and AC/Heat pump/Compressor, “talk” to each other along with the communicating thermostat. For example, if the AC is set to 74 degrees but it’s 75 in at the thermostat, the “brain” of the system will tell the compressor to turn on to “low” and the blower fan speed will also adjust to only blow enough air to match the low compressor output. If it needs to cool faster, it will increase the amount of cooling from the compressor and ramp up fan speeds in order to reach and/or maintain the set temperature, etc. (I’m no expert but just trying to explain it as I understand it, so please correct me if I’m wrong). Similarly for heating with a variable gas furnace, the amount of gas will vary accordingly. These systems will NOT use this advanced functionality with standard thermostats.