The furnace model number with the XR16 is an XC80. Very similar to the XV80 but communicating. Must be a mistake. TCONT803 is a fine thermostat to use with the XR16 air conditioner and furnace. Overall, I do not agree with the equipment matchups proposed with the furnaces and air conditioners. Oversized furnace on both systems, and oversized coil to achieve marginal efficiency gains on the XR16 system. I realize you may not understand all the implications of oversized equipment, but it is a big deal for comfort, efficiency and reliability. All things considered I still recommend the heat pump system. This post was edited by ryanhughes on Wed, Apr 24, 13 at 13:54

**What are the indoor and outdoor design temperatures used in the calculation?** Winter: outside 42 F/inside 70 F Summer: outside 97 F/inside 75 F **What are the sensible, latent, and total cooling BTU numbers?** I'm trying to attach a picture on the calculation that was done, but this is what I see Sensible Cooling Equipment Load Sizing: structure 48078 BTU, ducts 11989 BTU, equipment sensible load 61268 BTU Latent Cooling Equipment Load Sizing: Structure 494 BTU, ducts 314 BTU, equipment latent load 808BTU, equipment total load 62076 BTU Cooling Equipment Summary: sensible cooling 0 BTU, latent cooling, 0 BTU, total cooling, 0 BTU (The calculations actually WERE done by the Carrier contractor, but I'm feeling a little concerned now about them. I noticed the footnotes say the front door faces N, when it is NE. Not sure if that's a negligible difference or indicative of sloppy work.) **A temperature drop of 10-15 degrees on the bedroom supply is significant. Does the duct work travel through unconditioned space?** Yes **How much insulation is in the attic? You want at least R30. Increasing the attic insulation is going to help the temperature differential.** There is no attic space. The roof is basically right above the upstairs ceiling with maybe a foot of space between the two. There is no crawl space or access to this area unless you open up the ceiling drywall. This is where the upstairs ductwork is located. It is probably the original 1976 ductwork, 5" diameter. A camera inserted in one of the grills for a very rudimentary visual inspection showed that this main upstairs line is not in the best shape. When we settle on a contractor we were planning to try to get a more thorough inspection and expect that this ductwork should probably be replaced. I'm not really sure what our insulation options are, but the Carrier contractor (who is an approved Energy Upgrade CA contractor) seemed to be hinting that our options are expensive and limited.

None of the 6 Contractors who came in with estimates wanted to do the Manual J Calculations, they all say the Manual J calculations done when the house was built (2000) are good for now as they were no additions since. They said getting down to 4 Tons will have the A/C struggle in the summer time. the 70% of a 2 stage 5 ton unit will be less than 5 tons working anyway. The Ducts are in good shape still since the initial install. After many deliberations & negotiations today I finally signed up with who I thought has good reputation in the area, for a TRANE 5 Ton, 2 stage XR 17 Heat Pump with 16.25 SEER matched to a Trane variable speed fan motor Air Handler & a TRANE Thermostat for $9220 cash. I is scheduled for next week install. I thank every one for participation in this thread, it was a great help for me to sort out the ins & outs of the AC equipment, which I did not know anything about. I thank this Houzz forum to make the exchange of information possible. My best regards to every one..

Ok glad you found that useful. I decided to see if I could find some proof of the same ole shenanigans... yep sure did. Heavy on marketing and gimmicks low on realism and truth. But who needs truth? Now does this mean I am bashing Trane or Am. Standard? Only to the point in which they think their product is better than something else. The marketing gimmicks. They have to do that to charge more. If they told you 'hey our products are good, but you will pay more over the life of the equipment' would the you still buy it? But Ray, why wouldn't you just shut up and sell it anyway? This comment right here: 'Hey, you sold me this equipment --- you said it was the 'best', what do you mean the indoor coils are leaking freon? What do you mean the compressor is making noise that will eventually lead to it's death? This equipment is still new... if it was the best why am I having all these problems? That's why. --- no HVAC equipment is immune to failure. none. So sorry, Trane / American Standard is just as good --- or as bad as anything else. It will cost more to repair it. Marketing gimmicks cost money. -------- But what should I do then? Focus on design. Things like zoning / how it is going to be done. What is the better way for the project to be done? Sizing of the equipment. Don't over size even if you are buying 2 speed equipment. (A half ton over size is fine. Nearly 2 tons over size? uh---- NO.) Things like how much equipment versus controls --- further from that lay out. Ease of future service, the ability to easily repair the equipment, replace when that time comes. Things to reduce maintenance problems and or expenses. These things are fleeting when trying to get the 'cheapest price' outside of what the equipment costs. Because design is the skill level attained by 'experience'. With that said, new construction is often times none of these things. It's more along the line of sell the system(s), hire the sub contractor to do it --- and that sub contractor makes more money by completing as many jobs as they can. More often than not new construction has little to do with great design. Because of that I would zone the new construction home with 'equipment' as opposed to controls especially because you have the room to do so (5k sq ft) If you want zoning, add it later with someone who has in depth knowledge that it's even feasible. Experience is gained over years, decades in the HVAC field. As noted previously I do not do new construction. I come after the builder is long gone... in some cases as little as 1 year after the house was built. I service the Katy, Texas area.