Most of the Infinity/Evolution units that have been installed in my subdivision as replacements have been the 16 SEER versions. For the price increase, the 19 SEER probably isn't worth it, and I think the reciprocating compressor is fine in almost any situation. I like the lower capacity on stage 1, and both compressors (scroll or recip) would have a 10 year warranty. The 25HPA6 quote also communicates with the Infinity system and has a scroll compressor, but it's lower capacity is much higher, so less run time in low stage. I'm assuming the 5 year warranty is through the company itself. Usually it is 1-2 years. 10 year labor warranty coverage usually runs around $6-700. Hard to tell what can happen, but labor costs can easily make the extended coverage pay for it. If the $700 is feasible upfront to you, then you may really thank yourself down the road. Most do not go with the extended warranty I imagine, but if you can, it certainly will only be beneficial. Let us know if you have any more questions.

cindywhitall - No worries, your comment is spot-on and pretty much sums up my situation. Jackfre - I hear you, but despite my well-earned cynicism I'm too honest to take that path (tangled webs and what-not). If there's only one party acting with integrity through this, I want it to be me... ...but today was an interesting day and there may be hope for a decent resolution. First, I talked to my homeowners insurance company about my claim - and they seem ready to cover any damages from the lighting strike and support replacement of the HVAC system. However, they will only cover the replacement - not the repairs that have been done so far. Second, I had a technician visit from the HVAC company - someone who has yet to be involved with my repair. He was interested to hear my story and as I gave him the rundown - and he saw the status of my system - he clearly felt that it had not been handled correctly. There were sloppy connections on the zone board (as I found) and the air handler error code indicated deeper damgage - which he confirmed with testing. He agreed that with lighting damage the repaired unit could have lingering isssues that would only get worse over time and replacement is the best solution - a real concern for a brand new system that we hope to get 15-20 years of service out of. He didn't have the authority to offer me any immediate help, but will be taking my case to one of the business owners tomorrow morning. As I see it, the first diagnosis was hasty and incomplete which set us up for a series of repairs that have been both expensive and ineffective. I'll ask them to refund the repairs and replace the air handler - which will be covered by insurance. Hopefully I find a sympathetic ear. If I knew three weeks ago what I know now, this all would have gone much more smoothly. As I've been reminding myself since the storm, at least no one was hurt (my wife saw sparks in the lving room when the lighting sruck), nothing caught fire, and the weather has been relatively mild while our AC is out. Plus, I've finally gotten around to making some nice window screens for the kids' bedrooms.

12" return is almost definitely too large for the basement. I have a 6" return in my basement, and I have actually found it to draw ~200-240 cfm (using a barometer) -- plenty in my case with just a few supply outlets. In your case, I have no way of knowing for sure, but I assume it's piped directly (or near) to the inlet of the furnace blower compartment, in which case there is a lot of pressure and it's sucking in a lot of air and making the basement quite negative (not a good thing). So your basement return in that state may have been drawing close to, if not more than, half of the return air the entire system requires. Is the basement floorplan open to the rest of the home or closed off? If typically closed off, I wouldn't be surprised if the basement door had a tendency to close itself when the system was operating. I suppose putting cardboard over half of the grille is one way to reduce its intake capacity. Your older furnace does not (presumably) have a variable speed blower that will vary its RPM in order to maintain a specific CFM setting. That means that while you are noticing more airflow from the rest of the returns throughout the home, in totality your system is receiving less airflow -- no, not a good thing considering your ductwork is likely undersized to begin with. You have decreased its return capacity. To get the SAME (total) airflow from the rest of the returns throughout the home that were not previously drawing as much air generally requires the system to operate at an increased static; with older PSC type blower motors (non variable-speed), this results in decreased airflow. Hence variable speed motors are often termed "constant CFM" as they can adjust (increase) their speed to maintain a constant airflow (cfm) when subjected to as much as 0.8-1.0" of external static pressure (vs. conventional blowers max. of 0.5", which many duct systems are nowhere close to achieving despite it being the standard "design" figure). You can think of the ESP number as a measure of resistance to airflow, in a sense. The fact that you say the (supply?) ductwork is now much warmer is both concerning and telling. It is unwise for me to say much more than that as I am not there to evaluate your system design and give an accurate assessment of the ductwork design/layout, etc. But it suffices to say, with the info you've provided us, your return ductwork is now more restrictive, which would exacerbate any existing airflow issues. You do say it met the set point without tripping the high limit. Please let us know how the system performs as it gets colder out and the system runs more often in its present state. I would like to ask what made you consider replacing the systems (and proceeding to get 8 proposals) in the first place? Are there functional problems with the existing equipment (besides most likely being oversized) or other comfort issues? By now we have at least established that it is likely the existing equipment is a bit oversized and the existing ductwork is marginal -- but that is (unfortunately) exceedingly common on most residential construction. Are you after more efficiency, better comfort, both? It helps us to help you when we know more about your current system's performance. Lastly, I would not factor online reviews into your decision too much. An air conditioner or furnace is not like most appliances (such as a refrigerator) in that the installation practices and quality can make or break even the best equipment selection. There is a good chance that many (but not all) of the negative reviews you read were due to installation errors. This post was edited by ryanhughes on Fri, Nov 22, 13 at 9:51

Installed properly, a properly functioning HP will not experience this condition of being buried, except perhaps in blizzard like conditions that might only happen about once in 20-years. Usually high snowfalls are accompanied by windy conditions that spread snow around. When HP’s are rack mounted above snow lines, have a fan hood and are function properly, this is not usually an issue. Conversely, with geothermal, the undisturbed earth temperature above the 30-foot depth lags behind seasonal air temperature changes by at about 1 season. So that when we start heating, the earth still has most of its stored heat from summer. The same is true for air-conditioning in summer, that the first 30-feet of earth is still cooler from winter, as it has not yet stored all the heat of the summer sun, therefore making geothermal even more efficient due to ground conditions. Air temperature changes are immediate. Earth temperature changes are very gradual. BTW: I live in one of North America’s ‘Snow & Cold Capitals’, Montreal Canada. IMPO SR