Howdy!

I have read many of the recent posts, and have refined my questions a little. We are in Maryland (Baltimore area), have a 60-yr-old all brick farmhouse-style house with basement, finished garage open to the house. The hvac is forced air. The main house is ~2500sqft, the finished garage ~750sqft. The garage part is separately ducted, and has a 1.5 ton heat pump with propane (was converted from gas); has not had propane since we moved in (3 yrs ago). The main part has a 165,000 Btu Lennox oil furnace, and 4T a/c (don't remember make). Furnace was only running at 100,000 Btu, and was rated at 81.4% when we had it evaluated. It is at least 30 yrs old, and the a/c isn't too far behind. This year's maintenance found a cracked heat exchanger, and it is time to replace.

While I would love to explore geothermal, the cost puts it out of our league. Likewise, the solar estimate I had was prohibitive (but I may go solar water). Anyway, I have had 5 quotes for various combinations of replacement units. At the second quote, the estimator pointed out we could get natural gas. I called our provider (BGE) and they said it's possible (neighbors within 100ft all have it). So, we've applied to have them bring us gas. We can either replace our oil furnace with same, replace with hybrid system, replace with hybrid gas system (using just the heat pump and supplementing with portable radiators when it's too cold), or replace with gas furnace (and not have heat until it's in). In the meantime, we have the following estimates to compare and decide:

1. 3yo company, great company warranties, excellent customer service. Provided 4 proposals:

a. Trane THV1M087A9V5SA 82% w/var spd blower, 140k Btu, 20yr heat xch and 10 yr parts warranties, new cased coil w/10 yr parts; 4 Ton hybrid h/p Trane TLTWZ9048B100A 19i SEER 10yr compressor/10 yr parts warranties; lifetime installation warranty; Touch Pro programmable tstat, cleaneffects air cleaner $11431 (-500 for us to demo, -1200 for rebate)

b. Furnace as above; 4T Trane 16xli T4TTWX6048B1000A heatpump. Warranties the same. "410A refrigerant conversion flush to re-use existing piping" - is that Puron? $10,899 before demo discount (after 800 rebate)

c. Furnace same, 4T Trane 15xli T2TTWX5048A1000A. "Installation of new refrigeration line set." 10,492 -500 (600 rebate).

d. Same furnace, 4T Trane 16xli a/c T4TTWX6048B1000A. Refrigerant conversion flush. 800 rebate. 10878 -500.

2. The second estimate with a company in business over 20 years, son of original owner gave estimate. More observant - commented on second flue, asked about piping for gas. Deals in Carrier. He provided a proposal with upgrades:

a. Carrier Comfort 58CMA120-20 80.5% 120k Btu, 5 ton blower; limited lifetime heat exch, 5yr parts 1 yr labor. A/C 4T 13 SEER Puron, 24ACA348 (coil CNPVP4821); 10yr compressor, 5yr parts 1yr labor. New copper lines. Non-programmable tstat. $6275.

b. 15 SEER performance series $525 extra ($125 rebate)

c. 83% eff furnace with 16 SEER 2spd h/p hyubrid system w/infinity tstat- total price 7950, 400 rebate

d. Carrier 96% gas funace same heatpump as above (flue piping and gas line not included) $8750 (1100 rebate).

e. Aprilaire air cleaner 375, humidifier 650.

3. I wasn't impressed by their customer service, and he never got me a written estimate. Back of the card handwritten numbers: Trane "lowboy" furnace, 4850; Trane furnace and heatpump 16xli 11,100 (-800 rebate).

4. Existing fuel oil supplier. State they will meet/beat other proposals for oil furnaces. Carrier 58CMA105 97-126k Btu 80%. Carrier 24ACA342A003 condenser 13SEER 3.5T. Honeywell tstat, new copper lines. No warrany info. $7118. Also, option to use 13SEER heatpump additional $1015.

5. Sears. Last resort. Kenmore 14SEER a/c, Kenmore furnace. No model numbers given. Go with R22 13SEER and lifetime replacement (which would include new unit/conversion to Puron) $7586 +770 every 5 yrs for warranty. 14SEER unit Puron $9239, basic warranty. As I said, last resort.

Anyway, if you've made it this far, you're a real trooper. Sometimes it doesn't help to have too many options... We've already moved the supply, and will cut the return when we decide whether we'll be able to get rid of the oil tank or not. We want to now whether Carrier is as good as Trane, considering the nearly $2k difference in prices. Ta!