"John Moore" it is not too bad choice. I have good experience with them last year.

Thank you

Boy - I'd take with a grain of salt advice from someone who registered 5/10 and has a screen name of "centralairunits". Am I paranoid?

You will not save enough money on a variable speed unit to justify the cost. You will have a quieter system that removes humidity better.

You need to distinguish whether variable speed is meaning the outdoor compressor or the indoor blower, big diff. At a minimum I highly recommend var speed blower for the following reason (and I'm in San Antonio).

If humidity is a concern, especially in the morning, I recommend a variable speed indoor blower and a humidistat. You set the humidity level and the blower will run on slow speed until the actual humidity level reaches your set level. Then it shifts to high speed. This is especially useful during the overnight, early morning hours when there's little heat load, but lots of humidity. I love mine and I know its working good cause here it is 4 am, and I hear it running slow, then kicks up to high just before the whole thing shuts off. Keep in mind, you can't just put some unreasonable humidity percent, or else it will NEVER run on high speed, even during the day, when you want max cooling.

Variable speed air handlers use a special electronically controlled blower motor which can run at several different speeds. They are more energy efficient than conventional air handler blower motors.

With a VS blower motor, humidity removal can be increased by slowing the blower motor down. There are some caveats in this area.

1. The air handler must have a control line for this specific purpose. I do not know if all VS air handlers have this.

2. Some VS air handlers are better at humidity removal than others. You have to compare their latent heat capacities with their blowers at low and high speeds.

3. You need a humidistat or an intelligent thermostat with a humidity sensor in order to use the dehumidify feature.

4. It only works when the AC is running. In other words, it won't dehumidify if there is no need to cool. In some cases it may work if cooling is acceptable, as opposed to necessary.

5. Many HVAC installers don't understand these units and don't know how to set them up. VS blowers are just part of the high tech changes happening in the HVAC field. A lot of the techs aren't up to snuff on this stuff. Some never will be.

If you live in a lightning prone area, you should install whole house surge protection. All HVAC equipment has electronic controls these days. Those with VS blowers just have more of it. VS blowers are also found in some outdoor units (AC condensing unit/heat pump).

Variable speed blowers require no more maintenance than a conventional blower motor, unless they fail. If that happens, the repair is more expensive.

The trend is to use the same electronic motor control technology even for non-VS air handlers as an energy saving matter.

There is some HVAC stuff coming in from China. It may be being offered as a house brand. Most HVAC contractors sell major brand equipment for a good reason.

Be cautious.

House brand? Ask who makes it? John Moore Services is not building air conditioners. For that matter, Kenmore doesn't make air conditioner either, but you can buy a Kenmore A/C through Sears.

Get some more bids and VS is a good way to go. How much longer you going to live in that home? Will you get the payback for higher end system?