Thanks Tigerdunes. I stopped by the distributor of Heil today and he said this was a great combo as far as efficiency and said he would not recommend a higer SEER or 2 stage compressor, even from Heil as you would never recoup the costs. Also said to get the VS air handler as this combo will qualify for the $300 energy rebate due to the good efficiency ratings. Surprising but since the Trance XL15i does not get 13 EER it does not qualify for the $300 so that makes my difference $2100. At this point the Heil is the clear winner. not sure why what you have says discontinued but the dealers sells these all day long and I assume he would have told me this since I know them. Thanks for your input. We are actually going to add 3 registers in the lower level to help with heating this space. We have1 return that is in between both floors. Another contrator came out today and said I needed 38000 for cooling and 48000 for heating. In between a 3.5 and 4 ton which is consistent with the others. We have a lot of glass, face south, 7 skylights and avg ceiling height of 12'. He thinks 3.5 in/out was best solution especially since I told him I shut off most of the lower level registers in the summer as it is always cooler. Thanks

Hi I have a fellow coming out on Monday. But I am wondering what questions to ask? We always seemed to be fine with it - in fact I was happy. There is a central air return in the front hall and in the laundry room (other side of the wall). The only cool spot was the family room (it was originally a two car garage but was closed in by the first owner). It has really nice high efficiency windows in that room (since it faced south) that we put in two years ago. The house is really well insulated floors and attic wise and sits on a really treed lot. We keep the temp at 66 in the winter and 74 in the summer. The windows all have storms. Thanks for the advice - really appreciate it! Dix

My Comfort Maker system is less than a year old but has an issue I need help diagnosing. When it was first installed, in the summer, it ran fine but within a month stopped cooling. I assumed there was a leak and was able to get the original installer (o.i.) to come back and check it. The o.i. said "There is no leak. The refrigerant lines are getting blocked and need to be vacuumed out and re-filled." Which he did on three occasions because every time within a few days it would stop transferring heat. Soon the o.i. was MIA. My home warranty sent me service company "A" who basically said, "I don't know what the problem is but it might be a leak in your traveling lines, which are not covered by the warranty. Goodbye." I brought in a highly recommended (and expensive) service company "B" who said, "The TXV needs to be replaced. It's failure is causing the refrigerant lines to get blocked. Also, the compressor is making a lot more noise than is normal and may need to be replaced. Also having an acid test done might be a good idea to see if there are further compressor related problems." Since the TXV and compressor was covered by my warranty, I asked my home warranty for a second opinion and they sent service company "C" who recognised the need for a new compressor and I suggested he replace the TXV. He made the repairs and it worked. It worked wonderfully for about 5 days until I switched the thermostat to "OFF" because I was going away for a day and didn't want to waste money on cooling an empty house. When I returned and switched it back to "COOL" the unit ran but after two hours without dropping the house a degree I checked the condensing unit and the pipe supplying the cold refrigerant was cool but not even cold enough produce condensate on a 90 degree humid day. I gave it 4 more hours without a difference before I turned it off to not ruin the compressor. I think that switching the T-stat "OFF" is a key part. After the original install I did turn the T-stat off at some point, and there after I noticed it was no longer cooling. Any suggestions on what the problems could be, and how I can best get it resolved? I've been dealing with this for a year, my warranty is up at the end of August.

A 2TWR3042 heat pump combined with a 2TEE3F40 air handler is indeed an XR13 rated at 40,500 btu-hour, 14 SEER, 12 EER, 8.2 HSPF. A little low on HSPF but you are in Florida so no big deal. Otherwise, these are good numbers especially the 12 EER. I think that it is smart to replace the 2 refrigerant lines. You won't have to worry about any junk from the old lines getting into the new system. As far as the v-s blower, it is an ECM motor, extremeley quiet, and adjusts it's speed based on constant CFM output. These are the latest and greatest motors. The pros love them because they can adjust their speed based on ductwork conditions and provide a fixed CFM. They are also very expensive to replace. Some poor girl many months ago paid $1000, part-only, for an OEM Bryant ECM motor. My entire Goodman air handler was only $700. There are dip switches in the air handler that have to be set by the installer for the v-s motor to run properly. The v-s blowers are touted to people who like to run the fan all of the time to help circulate air in the home. In this mode, the v-s motor drops to about 30%, and you can't hear it if you are standing next to the air handler. There is a setting called "Comfort R", offerred by Trane, that slows the air handler down to provide better humidity control when the a/c is running. I am not sure if this is a function of the air handler or t-stat so you should ask Mr Trane. For pricing comparison, an April 30th quote for a 3-ton XR13 in Baltimore was $4600, different heat pump and air handler. Your performance numbers are much better than what I was quoted. Your pricing looks good. I wouldn't let the R22 be a major factor in your decision. I just installed a new 3-ton, 14 SEER, 12 EER, Goodman heat pump in June. I chose good old R22 and a fixed speed fan in the air handler. These were my personal choices after many days of research. I too am I mech engineer employed in the steel industry. This HVAC stuff is side interest to keep my brain cells communicating.