We need to replace the 20 year old system that heats and cools the third floor of our house about - 3rd floor is about 1500 sq feet.

We are in the north east with an oil fired burner for hot water and heat. The third floor is right under the roof with a very small attic above so the rooms get a lot of heat during the day from the sun. (we are also looking at adding an attic fan to help vent the hot air out of the attic)

The old system is a 2.5 ton Goodman outside and a 2.5 First Company air handler in the attic that is also providing heat via hot water from the furnace thru a hydro coil. The circulator for that coil is in the First Company air handler and not in the basement at the boiler. The unit needs to be replaced because the drip pan under the condenser coil on the inside unit is rusting out and would be very expensive ($2,000) to repair.

Duct work will support up to a 3 ton system.

I have proposals from 3 different suppliers for three different replacement systems.

#1 - American Standard - Proposal includes Allegiance 14 outside unit (4A7B4030) 2.5 ton 30,000 BTU unit and an internal variable speed Air Handler (4TEE3F31) 2.5 ton 30,000 btu.

#2 - Bryant/First Company - Proposal includes Bryant Legacy outside unit (116BNA030) and a First Company 30HBXB-HW air handler in the attic to handle both the heat and cooling.

#3 - Carrier - Proposal includes Carrier Performance Line outside (24APA736) with a variable speed inside unit (FE4ANB36) - these are 3 ton units.

#1 and #3 did not say yet how they plan to handle the heat portion given that the circulator is currently in the air handler. Not sure if they plan to place one in the attic or in the basement at the furnace.

There are some space issues in the attic in terms of fitting the replacement in after the old one is removed. #1 and #2 are sticking with systems that will fit in the existing space while #3 is proposing to turn the unit 90 degrees to allow more space for the unit and to service it and that proposal include the cost of adapting the duct work to the new location.

Any comments on the 3 proposed solutions? Ignoring any price and/or service differences, do the specs of any of the 3 systems stand out (either positive or negative) to guide the decision.

Thanks,