Yes, I meant 90% high efficiency furnaces not btu. oops, big difference. The OP states she lives in Northern Virginia, as do I. I checked the final versions and Virginia falls in the 80% recommended AFUE efficiency for both heat and air conditioning. Check page 60 on link below, look at small ** which lists southern states. It's only 2012, so 80% efficiency is ok now, and I guess I'm reading in VA will be for a bit. Wonder what the price difference is between weatherized HVAC units (typically fit for weather or outdoors) and non-weatherized units (like most have inside their house/garage/crawl. Still, my question is: don't 90% efficient furnaces require PVC direct to outside? How is every homeowner possibly going to be able to comply with that (northern states are listed on page 60 as *)? And who says an 80% two stage system is less efficient than a 90% single stage anyway? OP-please let me know if you'd like names of the local HVAC companies I have used. Here is a link that might be useful: final version dept of energy new HVAC regs

Thanks Tiger, Harlemhvac electricity is 12 C / kWH (worksheet matches bill) Natural Gas is $1.70 / thrm (Carrier worksheet - my actual bill shows is a bit lower $1.3 /thrm) The Carrier worksheet shows breakeven temp for HP as 37F. I did ask about the lineset - R-11 flush is what was recommended. The Carrier person also remarked about the 'more than adequate' and 'good' duct work (they will do some tests - sorry too technical for me - trying to catch up as fast as i can) The Trane quote does include 1 Honeywell media air cleaner and 1 AA700 humidifier thrown in (included in cost). Upstairs with regular filters - was saving me from going to the attic (I guess yearly maint would be time to change filter- so I will get media filters for both zones) The furnace mdl number is indeed TUD.. (just reread the scribble) - thanks Tiger: I did go over some of your numerous posts and saw that you singularly do not like the Trane XL16is and also the Carrier HP would not have the 'electronic demand defrost". I have asked the Trane dealer for the coil mdl numbers. They are a bit backed up as Virgina has a $1500 discount per system (no limit per household) going on- to be redeemed within 30 days of reserving it. Hope to get the mdl numbers tomorrow. Will also be getting three more options from another visit by another dealer today. Will get that tomorrow hopefully. 1 Some combination of Comfort + Infinity 2 All Infinity (so 2nd all Infinity quote) 3 All Lennox system thank you guys for all your posts on this forum (reading a lot since I discovered this yesterday) and helping me specifically

I also live in NJ and I am familiar how the Clean Energy program works. I have to be honest I don't care for it. The contractors quote a high price and then the state comes in with a rebate to bring it back down. The result is you are usually paying an inflated price. The hook is you have to replace your water heater and add insulation at some very high price. So the quote is $17,662 minus the $4000 rebate for a net of $13,662. For this you are getting a 2-stage Infinity furnace and a single stage AC, with a water heater and blown in insulation. If $2000 goes towards the insulation leaving $11,662 for the equipment and installation. If it were a 2-stage AC I would say you are at the high end of the price range, for a single stage it is over priced in my opinion. You can try what Tigerdunes has suggested, but I am confident the dealer will not go along with it. Do you need a new hot water heater? Paying $2800 for a hot water heater is absurd. Realize that this will be a vented model which will not operate during a power outage. With the low price of gas even they are estimating a 40 year pay back. You will be lucky if the hot water heater lasts 20 years. I think you can do much better with pricing. Get a quote from a Carrier dealer who doesn't participate in the program. If you need a hot water heater you can buy a basic tank in Home Depot for less than $500 plus installation. If you have R30 insulation in the attic, then adding more is probably not going to have a big impact (look at the payback years). Attic sealing is good DIY project. Put the money toward an attic hatch or make one yourself. Finally not sure about the $4000 in labor. Installers will rarely quote labor charges, or even breakdown the price by item.

My first advice would be to find out how much insulation you currently have in the attic and what condition it is in. You should have at least R-30 of insulation. If you are adding more than it doesn't cost much more to increase it to R-40. I like fiberglass batts, but blown in insulation is fine as long as it is done properly. This is something you can do yourself or hire an insulation company. I am sure you were told that as part of the NJ Clean Energy Program you must seal your attic in order to qualify for any rebate. I have never seen any measured results of energy savings before and after sealing. The attic hatch should be sealed since in my opinion it is the biggest source of leakage. This is something you can do yourself. Several years ago I built my own insulated hatch for about $15. If you seen dirty insulation that is dirty in spots, then that is a source of a significant air leak. You can use silicone caulk to seal them, or you can have the insulation company seal and then insulate. I see that you have gotten some quotes. I also detect that some and possibly all have not done a load calculation for your house. Any HVAC contractor who quotes either a 2 or 3 ton AC for an 1100 sq. foot house in Middlesex County (I am in the same county) NJ obviously has not done a load calculation. If you are going to upgrade the attic insulation then do that first, and then get a contractor to do a real load calculation. If your windows are double paned and fairly tight, then I would think a 40K BTU furnace and a 2 ton furnace are the correct sizes. As far as equipment goes, I own Carrier Infinity equipment and so far I like it. The Bryant equipment is exactly the same. I am a fan of 2 stage furnaces and AC and in my opinion are worth the extra money. Trane/American Standard is also very good. I have no direct experience with Lennox, but from what I understand Lennox uses unique parts. The parts have to come from Lennox and are sometimes harder to get. I think you said your current furnace is 11 years old and 80% efficiency. Normally I would say to keep the furnace another 5-10 years. But if you plan to live in this house 10 or more years then you may want to consider replacing and keeping the correct matching AC. Here are my opinions on the quotes: Company #1 Quote #1: Carrier Performance AC is good, I don't think you need 2.5 tons and the price seems expensive. Quote #2 Carrier Infinity 58CVA furnace is very good, but it is only 80% AFUE. I recommend spending a little more money and installing a 95%+ AFUE furnace. The Infinity 24VNA9 is overkill for our climate. You can save money buy dropping down a model or two and getting an AC that has a SEER rating of about 16. If the AC is sized properly and is 2-staged then I highly doubt you need a whole house dehumidifier. That would be a waste of money in my opinion. Company #2 and #3 I am not an expert on Lennox, but I think some of these models don't compare that the Carrier Infinity in terms of features. The fact you are being quoted different AC sizes is a red flag for me. Company #4 Quote #1 Bryant Legacy 2.5 ton for $4600 seems reasonable. I would want to see a load calculation to see if you really need 2.5 tons. If you keep your current furnace you will have a mismatched system. It will work, but you don't know the SEER rating, Quote #2 Bryant Evolution is the same as Carrier Infinity. Very nice equipment but the price seems high. Here is quoting a 2 ton. So why is he quoting 2.5 ton in Quote #1? I see no size listed for the furnace. Quote #3 He now quotes the 3 ton size. I guess he thinks you may want to hang meat in your basement. A 3 ton AC, even if it were 2-stage, is going to short cycle and you will still have a humidity problem. Once you discover this he may suggest getting a whole house dehumidifier. Correct sizing is critical. This guy does not seem to care. In summary you haven't found a good contractor yet. Carrier rebates start March 1st. The March - April time frame is the best time to get quotes in our area. Contractors are not busy and the pricing is a little better.