itsgood I have a similar situation in my home and do not have a seperate tstat in the basement - but I could if I wanted to. I have found that main and basement equalize to about the same temps - however - humidity is a different story. My house is basement + main + 2nd story. Second story has its own geothermal HVAC. Main and basement are serviced by 2 other GT HVAC units. My main level is divided into two sections - the living area is aboout 2400 sq feet and the master suite is about 1500 sq feet. These two aeras each have their own HVAC unit - 6 ton and 3 ton respectively - 1 tstat for each unit both located on the main level. These units do the main floor plus the basement area below each. So 6 ton handles 4800 sq feet and 3 ton handles 3000 sq feet. The main supply ducts were set up so that the basement areas have their own supply ducts (total of 2, one for each section) and the main level has its set of supply ducts (total of 2, one for each section). If you look in my basement, there are two parallel horse shoe like supply ducts that run around the ceiling in each basement section: one horse shoe handles main space above, the second horse shoe handles basement area below. The HVAC unit servicing the largest section of the house is in the center of the basement and both horse shoes connect to the main output supply of the unit. Currently the dampers for all supply ducts are manual and open all the time. If I needed to, I could install electronic dampers and have the basement horse shoe controlled by a tstat in that section, and main level above contolled by the existing tstat. The basement is unfinished except for 1 rooom. The temp in that room is contolled by tstat on main level above. I have the minimum number of registers in the basment to condition the basement space. I do have the walls insulated and most of my basement is below grade (except the rear wall). It is a walk out. I also have seperate return ducts for the basement and main levels. I have found that my basement is really comfortable even with just the minimum number of required registers down there. When I finish the basement, i will add some registers and initially manually adjust in the basement. If I find that I cannot contol the temp adequately down there, I can always add the parts I need to control the supply ducts and HVAC operation independently. The extra ducting added was well worth the flexibility I now have to do whatever I want later. The total space used for the 2 parallel ducts is just a little larger than if they had used 1 larger supply - so it won't look any uglier when I box in during finishing. I also avoided the extra costs for the zoning controls and extra tstats. I have found that while the temperature in the basement and main level tends to equalize, the humiditity in my basement is much higher in the summer than the main level. To counter this, I wound up putting in a whole house de-humidifier in the basement and because of the way air flows between the 2 levels, that one DH unit conditions both levels. Good luck.

I would want to make sure it includes a Trane/American Standard all-aluminum indoor coil to make it a complete matching system. Some dealers like to substitute third-party coils for OEM coils.

To be honest I have no idea what the rates are or how to make sense of this. I looked online at Dominion Powers' website and saw the following First 800 kWh Over 800 kWh @ 2.258â per kWh @ 1.285â per kWh B. Electricity Supply (ES) Service Charges Paragraph II.B. is not applicable to Customers receiving Electricity Supply Service from a Competitive Service Provider. 1. Generation kWh Charge a. Billing Months of June ��" September First 800 ES kWh @ Over 800 ES kWh @ b. Billing Months of October ��" May First 800 ES kWh @ Over 800 ES kWh @ 3.795â per kWh 5.773â per kWh 3.795â per kWh 2.927â per kWh Washington Gas RATE FOR MONTHLY CONSUMPTION System Charge (Per customer) $11.25 All Billing Months Distribution Charge (Per therm) All gas used during the billing month: First 25 therms Next 100 therms Over 125 therms PURCHASED GAS CHARGE 47.95â 30.63â 25.79â The gas meter is about 8 feet from where it will go into the home and probably another 4 feet to the HVAC. The vent will go out to the exterior of the home. I do not believe there are dampers The home is about 3400 total sq ft, a raised rambler with only two levels both of which have level walk outs. But the back wall of the bottom level is about 5 feet under ground.

Three and a half tons is too much capacity for a house that is 1600 sq/ft. You said your house was a 1 story? Is it brick, stone, stucco? Is your house insulated? If I came and installed your system, I would put in a 2.5 ton condenser with a 2.5 ton evap. Where is your air handler located, in the attic or ground level? Is your duct work insulated if it is in the attic? One of the biggest problems i see in the field is people put in systems that are just too large. Yes, a new system would be able to throttle itself to make a 3.5 ton unit work for your home. But at the same time this will increase your compressor ratio and cost you more to run your unit on hot days. Why pay for what you do not need? I have not seen your house, but I would NEVER install a 3.5 ton unit in a 1600 sq/ft rancher where I live. You want your system to run a long time each time it comes on. This helps to remove the humidity from your home which is what makes you feel comfortable. Too many people get systems installed where they run for 10 minutes or less at least 3 times or more an hour. I would rather your unit run for 15 minutes only twice an hour. Not only is it better for your wallet in the long run, it preserves the life of your equipment. As the other poster stated, a 100k btu 95% furnace is way too big for your home. A 2 stage, 80k would be ideal. It does not get that cold where you live. I'd be amazed if your heater ran at full capacity more times than not during the winter season. Quite frankly, if electricity is cheaper your way than natural gas, like it is here on the East Coast, I would install a heat pump in your location.