Tar Heel You have relatively cheap nat gas compared to electric. Even at 80% efficiency furnace, nat gas is cheaper. Below s a fuel comparison that is to be used as a guide only. 2.75 COP for electric, 80% for nat gas. Cost per 100,000 btu of useable heat Electric baseboard: $3.59 Heat pump: $1.45 Natural gas: $1.24 Again this is to be used as a guide only. While you live in a location that has relatively moderate winter weather, you normally do not place high eff condensing furnaces 95%+ in unconditioned attics because of freeze ups even however remote. If your attic does not have certain insulating properties, it simply is not advisable. With the fuel comparison calculator, I probably would not recommend a heat pump. I would go with a properly sized 2 stage 80% var speed furnace paired with at least a 15 SEER AC condenser. Just for info, if you went straight HP with air handler for upstairs, normally you place the condenser, air handler, and heat strip on separate circuits. Only a dealer with qualification in this area could determine if you have the capacity. If not, an upgrade would be required which probably would not be cost effective. If you went dual fuel with heat pump and 80% furnace, then your electric service would not be an issue. Hope this helps even tho I don't care for the UNC Tarheels. Just kidding. IMO

It is a federal law to reclaim refrigerant properly. It cannot be released into the atmosphere intentionally, so they would have to recycle it. I question the $700 figure. You need to get more estimates, because the repair cost sounds high--I don't care how much refrigerant they have to recover. And no, you don't want to reuse contaminated refrigerant in a system. It needs to be clean, new refrigerant.

Thanks, guys! Update: We finally called the bigger company from an adjoining town and to my delight they have four service technicians who live in my town AND the sales manager lives here also. So the worry I had about no or slow service after sale and the guilt I was feeling about taking our business elsewhere was allayed. They came in and did comprehensive tests and measurements to determine the system we need, redesigned the ductwork and air intakes and included a bigger air return for the new zones. We will have two filter cabinets for two air intakes (one on either side of the thing that houses the coil, am I saying that right?) and numerous improvements to the systems offered by the other contractors. The total is now $17,268, a whopping $4200 more than our other bid, but this price tag essentially buys a new system in almost every particular. And---their labor warranty is double the length of the other guys (two years instead of one). They include a one year service contract with the system and added our other, 3 ton heat pump for the new wing in that contract even though they didn't sell or install it. I know that is peanuts for them but it was a nice gesture that I appreciated and it wasn't a selling point--- they told me about it after we had already signed the contract. Work begins at 8 am on Thursday. :-) i sincerely appreciate the help and advice given on this forum. I learned a lot reading other people's questions and answers. If any of you have decorating questions that need input from an opinionated Southern homeowner I'll be happy to return the favor!

If you like a warm house in the winter in Florida, get the heat pump. If you like a cold house in the winter in Florida, get the air conditioner with electric heat. Because Florida is such a mild climate in the winter, it really comes down to what you want. It can get cold in Florida, but it's more likely to remain warm. If you "run" the heat pump in heating mode, the efficiency of the unit will pay for the heat pump upgrade. If you don't use the heat pump in heating mode, you don't need a heat pump. My climate is similar in Katy, Texas and while I do sell heat pumps it's rare for people to choose that here because cold winters here are like 1 time in 10, 20, 30 years depending on who you talk to. When it does get cold, it usually over in a few days to a week and many times less than that. Florida is probably less so than here, IMO.