Hi Mark, I have been in the HVAC for 4 years so I will give you my best opinion, I do both residential services and installs in California. The only thing I can't give you specificly on is pricing due to the cost of living. So getting another bid is a wise choice. American Standard is a good brand, probably one of the best in my opinion as long as it is installed per manufacture. The quality is way better than other brand. I serviced thousands and thousands of units and I am totally in love with American Standard or Trane (Same company). Beside brand, what you also need to consider is the contractor that install them (Which is the most important factor). Make sure they are licensed and have insurance. A bad/hack install will give you alot of problems down the road. Go with your instant feeling when choosing contractor, Does he seems honest? Is he pushy? is he legit? Big company doesn't mean that they will do a good job, it all come down to the people who put it in (which is me :-). The company might be legit, the sale guy are nices, but what about the installers? So my advise to you is be nice to the installers, treat them with respect. Make sure to offer them drinks. The 4 inch media filter is a must. This thing is so good at capturing particle/mold/ that it is just amazing. Make sure you get the HEPA 4 inches filter. Since you are getting a new evap coil, It would take awhile before it grows bacteria, so in my opinion, UV light is something you can wait until later on. Extended Warranty? That's totally up to you. Good luck Mark, Remember it is not the brand, the company, the sale guy, IT IS THE INSTALLERS! By the way I used to live in Austin Texas, right over there by I35 and Palmer Lane. Just moved to CA about 4 years ago.

The system proposed by the Carrier distributor does not include an Infinity controller. He is providing a Honeywell thermostat. Condenser is 24ACC636. Coil is either CNPVP3717. To repeat, the furnace is Infinity 80, model 58CVA090, 80% 90K BTU. He will price a whole house box filter for me, but as he explained it so me, its value to me looks pretty marginal. The American Standard distributor does not recommend a variable speed motor although he can provide one at a little higher price. His reason is that his experience has shown that the variable speed motors are more likely to burn out sooner and if not under warranty, they cost about $1250 to replace. I asked the Carrier distributor about experiences with the variable speed motor being more likely to burn out. He reports no troubles with variable speed motors and has been using them for 10 years of more. The ECM motors used are covered by ten-year warranty along with the rest of the equipment.

Ham I always like to congratulate homeowners who make the effort to perform a load calc. It is good information especially if you have a load calc to compare against the dealer. A couple of things. Trane/AmStd 803 stat will help you on humidity control in AC cooling. If humidity is not a concern for your climate, then forget about it and go for a quality stat like the 802 model or same HW VP 8320. Honeywell makes Trane stats, some are just rebranded, the high end mdls are proprietary. I still would stick with the 3 ton AC condenser. Here is the sticky part though. You must have a three ton rated blower in your furnace for AC cooling. This is problematic because it is difficult to find a small BTU furnace with a 3 ton blower. I am not surprised at your load calc for heating. I did a little research this morning and found a quality Rheem furnace with a 41 KBTU output and a three ton blower. It is a comparable model to the AmStd as it has the high eff x-13 blower. I am providing a link for your review. Still think the AmStd quoted would be fine. Certainly it is better than what you have and will save in operating costs. What have dealers said about new lineset? I do encourage you to consider a whole house pleated filter media cabinet. As long as you have good accessibility, changeout is easy and these filters last up to one year before filter needs replacing. I have Trane's Prerfect FIt media filter. IMO Here is a link that might be useful: Rheem Furnace

I suggest separate systems for the first and second floor. That is the best way to have even temperatures on each floor. It costs more up front, but you potentially have lower operating costs. You could zone the loft off the second floor system. However if you are going to be working 10 hours days with multiple pieces of equipment generating heat then spend the money on a mini split.