I have an XL Glider, and I love it too. My husband found out why it squeaks. Because they come preassembled, they are painted and assembled very quickly. When the paint comes off after using and folding/storing it, the metal rubs a bit on the joint that crosses. He put a thin plastic washer in between the two poles and WaLaa! No more squeaks! (he has the allen wrenches that are required to seperate the poles, you may need to purchase them). These are the joints that the manual says to check and make sure that they are tight before using. You could lubricate the joint, I suppose, but I haven't had a squeak since. It was so annoying, I use mine every other day in the morning, I am so happy now. Jainie

weedmeister see furnace xv80 ..80% gas furnace. have you asked about American Standard? Am St & Trane are same mfg, more bells and whistles with trane. I see no mention of duct sealing. if you seal the ductwork, supply boxes and return airs then you get more of the air you are paying to heat and cool into your house. on an average we find 30% duct leakage. but you have to test to know what your amount of leakage is. otherwise its just a wag. no mention of loac calculation either.. 7 tons is a LOT for 2700sq ft. even with bad rule of thumb sizing of 500 sq ft per ton its big. when units are oversized they short cycle. meaning they don't run long enough to remove humidity. as it costs more for unit to start up as compared to what it costs for it to run. you want less start up and long run time. short cycling adds to your operating costs. equipment life is shortened. smaller units, sized with load calcs save you on equipment costs, but more importantly utility costs and more dehumidification. dehumidification is very important in our climate. one way to deal with oversizing is variable speed units. these units have the capacity to heat/cool on the 10 days a year you have lots of company, but also run in low speed for the rest of the time. low speed removes more humidity, and increases the efficiency. I find 15 to 17 SEER to be our sweet spot. less and operating costs are high, dehumidification is less. higher SEER has diminishing return on roi. have a conversation with the company about variable speed. dehumidification needs, smaller equipment and mastic sealing of ductwork. if they want a satisfied customer they will be willing to spend a bit more time on your install. you might also explore the option of heat pumps. the upcharge will be less than gas furnace. but will depend on electrical capacity & configuration. the ducts and heating system are in the attic? best of luck.

If you were me, you would run away from Trane hi efficiency heat pumps. I have had the new unit, air handler, new lines for almost 3 years. The installer is certified by Trane and the unit has a 10 year extended warranty. When it was sold to me I was told everything is covered. I now have a 850 dollar bill on my hands because Trane refuses to pay the installer for work that had to be done on the unit last month. They have worked on the unit 5 times in 3 years. I can email you the documents that show that Trane will not back up the warranty, if you send me your email. By the way the unit does not currently work and I am not sure who to call, other than my attorney. Trane seems to not care when issues are pointed out. They go on selling the units like hot cakes and ignore those such as myself that have units that do NOT work. eddie_brown@yahoo.com

I'm just starting to sew, but I've been doing a lot of research on patterns, and I found two companies that provide custom sized patterns in very different ways. Unique patterns charges $30 per year for membership, stores one set of your body measurements and will send you customized patterns for any McCalls or Butterick pattern you buy. If you want to make a garment for someone with different measurements, you'll have to pay an additional fee. Incidentally, for $100 you can have your body computer scanned at one of a dozen body scanner centers in the U.S. Of course, you can also have a friend take your measurements for free. In contrast, Wild Ginger sells software that will allow you design your own patterns to fit your body (or anyone else's body). There are about eight different categories (casual jackets, classic blouses, etc.), and each allows you to mix and match style options like buttons, zipper, sleeve length and fit (sleek vs. ease). You can print the pattern on your computer using consecutive sheets of paper which you piece together for your pattern. I haven't tried either service, but I think the Wild Ginger option is the way to go. I'm 53 years old and a petite size two with narrow shoulders, a short waist, and long arms and legs. Finding simple, youthful but classically styled casual clothes that flatter my figure has become almost impossible during the past two years. Anything that fits looks like it was designed for a twenty year old with a pierced navel. I hope as my sewing skills improve, I can order the Wild Ginger software and design the sleek warm up jackets and black yoga pants I can't find any more.