Thanks IB! I'm trying to keep the perspective you mention in mind. Your words of encouragement were very much appreciated! :) I do think the books were used as a reference. That's what I'm wondering about--is there a better reference book out there? There is a PA Flora database Website run by U Penn., which references all the natives, and also MBOT has a Web database for a lot of commercially used plants. When I'm "out in the field" identifying plants, I tend to use wild plant field guides and I can usually identify a "domesticated" plant because I know its wild cousin. Some of them I just know because I am a plant weenie. Anyway, it's hard to know what book is best since these days I mostly find what I'm looking for online. So many universities have plant databases, and also USDA and the cooperative extension services have put out a lot of material. But nothing beats a good, comprehensive field guide for helping orient a newbie to the ins and outs of plant ID, such as it is. The way things are going with proprietary ways of plant breeding though, who knows what the future will bring! Anyway, I learned plant ID scientifically--by learning descriptive terms and the key characteristics of the families. The instructors taught natural history too. Is this the same approach used in landscaping education? The previous instructor organized the class by what she knew, which was somewhat similar to my knowledge base. I always approach a garden like a mini-ecosystem, at least for starters. I think I may pay a visit to some friends of mine who run a native plant nursery. They have a good little library and I have often gone to them with questions about plants. I have taught botany before, but it was "Field Botany for Educators" and I taught a mix of "wildflowers," trees, shrubs, and grasses. I have my favorite field guides for those kinds of plants, but I'm not going to suggest that my students buy all those! Anyway, I'm not familiar with what are the great "domesticated" plant encyclopedias. You know, like for trees, a lot of people swear by Michael Dirr's guides, for Birds folks love Roger Tory Peterson, etc.

Ryan, I received this proposal from Argent heating and cooling agent. I think that it might have a catch because the proposal was not detailed. It only says: Equipment: CARRIER HEAT PUMP PERFORMANCE SERIES 15 SEEER HPA042-48 CARRIER AIR HANDLER FX4CNF042-48 WILL PROVIDE CONNECTIONS TO EXISTING ELECTRICAL AND DRAIN WILL PROVIDE DUCT TRANSITION OUTDOOR SLAB ELECTRICAL DISCONNECT AND ALL LABOR Work to be Performed: Remove and dispose existing heatpump. Install above listed equipment All necessary sheet metal transitions from existing ductwork. Complete explanation of operation and maintenance. Warranty: 5 year parts/ 10 Compressor / 1 years labor. Do you think that they would charge us for other stuff (strap, etc.)? I understand that Performance or Infinity air handler would add to that price. Do you think that we should go with 3.5-ton equipment considering that we do not use basement and a couple of smaller bedrooms most of the time? Also, what do you think about copper vs. aluminum pipes in Carrier/Trane devices? We like top of the line products, but the price might be too high for the area. We should not "overimprove" the house. The remodeling we've done in our North Potomac townhome helped us to sell it in one week on the very soft market, but it was all about design/expensive materials. Nobody cared about top of the line AC and appliances we installed. TD, thanks for the translation. That does help! I will print it and use with other contractors :)

Tigerdunes Upgrade to a classic series condenser is an additional $400. In the original quote, he offered me the following 95% option. This was still without the classic series upgrade. AHRI: 3799106 RHEEM 14AJM18 Indoor: RCFL-A*2417 Furnace: RGTM-06?MAE? Thermostat Question: I noticed there are two models of 8321 TH8321U1006 & TH8321U1097 Which one would you recommend for me? This is the difference that I found online: The TH8321U1006 model features humidity control for a cool to dehumidify feature on your system. If you want to use low fan speed cool to dehumidify or have a stand alone dehumidifier, use the 1097 model below instead. AprilAir: Can you recommend an AprilAir model to install? I was thinking to install 2210 but I see they have other models. Some are even geared for attic. Thanks once again.

Missstella To your last question. Without going into technical jargon, electronic demand defrost is a feature on heat pumps that eliminate unnecessary, nuisance, and costly defrost calls. It is found only on a few brand/models of heat pumps including Trane/AmStd, York, and Rudd/Rheem. It is much more desirable over the cheap time/temp method of defrost. I don't think I said 2 ton was oversized. since this is upstairs system, I would probably stick to a 2 1/2 ton assuming you have has no cooling and/or humidity issues. Here is the Rheem system I would consider. 3879236 Active Systems RHEEM RPQL SERIES RHEEM MANUFACTURING COMPANY RPQL-030JEZ � RCFL-H*3617 RGPE-05?BMK? 29800 12.50 15.00 29200 9.00 18400 Existing lineset size will need to be verified. You would need a good two stg thermostat suitable for DF operation along with outdoor sensor. The heat pump would offer about 29 KBTUs and the two stg furnace would have a low stg of 35 KBTUs and high stage of 40 KBTUs which should be more than adequate for 1000 sq ft upstairs living space. IMO