Good point Dimitrig. I received a letter from the IRS yesterday which stated that I may be entitled to a payment of up to $600 ($1200 if filing a joint return), plus additional amounts for each qualifying child. For taxpayers with adjusted gross income (AGI) of more than $75,000 (or more than $150,000 if married filing jointly), the payment will be reduced or phased out completely. I'm fairly confident that I will receive $600 plus whatever additional amounts they dole out for my 2 kids. Even if your income is over $75K as a single individual or more than $150K if you file jointly you may still be entitled to something. It's true that this rebate may not be in the best interest of the country, however, when you consider the money that is being spent/has already been spent on the wars in Iraq and Afganistan this is just a drop in the bucket. I really don't want this to turn into a political type of post because this is not the place for it. I'm just glad that I will be able to help out a couple struggling mom & pop nurseries in my area and help beautify my environment.

Supposedly, the first batch went out already (if you have filed your tax return and did the automatic deposit for your return--if they mailed your check, then they'll mail this one at a later date). I think the first batch was SS #s ending 00 to 25 (or something like that), the second batch (I'm hoping today) is 26-75, and the last batch on May 9 which will be 76 to 99 (I'm not sure of the exact #s, but it's something like that). Not many numbers in the first batch, so, like Rick said, you may not know anybody in the first batch (who did automatic deposit). Who knows if I have my info correct, but that was how I understood the story that I read. Alison

I realize I'm late for this party but feel I needed to add info for similar questions in the future. I've been an HVAC licensed contractor since 1979 and now support 3 equipment manufactures with onsite consulting and training. This is a very common question easily answered. What are your needs? How long will you be in your home? I'll start with the difference in 80% and 95% (condensing) furnaces. With an 80%, every dollar you pay the gas company 20 cents goes up the flue. With 95% only 5 cents goes up the flue. So basically you save 15 cents on every dollar previously spent. Now for single vs. 2 stage. Your home has an average heat loss figured for anywhere in the US. A competent contractor will do a Manual J calculation to determine the load of your home (more on this later). This load will provide enough heat for your average lowest temperatures in your area. But how often do you hit these lowest temperatures. Generally only a few hours a day or a few days every month. Which means you actually burn more gas than you need to and your furnace cuts on and off often (short cycles). Basically it's oversized for most of the winter. With a 2 stage furnace the furnace fires at a lower rate when demand is lower then bumps up too second stage if the demand becomes greater. This creates far more comfort in the home by reducing the hot and cold spots in rooms which are more prevalent when a furnace short cycles. So efficiency (80 or 90+%) reduces your money up the flue and staging reduces your money spent on comfort. Here's a problem I run into often. A contractor sells you a 95% efficient furnace and removes your 80%. After a month or 2 you see your gas bills go up! What happened? Furnaces have an Input and Output (or bonnet) rating. A 100,000 btuh 80% puts out 80,000 btuh. A 100,000 95% puts out 95,000. Some contractors just look at your old furnaces input rating and goes "like for like" rather than a proper Manual J calculation because it's easier. So if you remove your 80% 100,000 btuh furnace for a 95% 100,000 btuh furnace as you can see from the example above you would burn 95,000 - 80,000 = 15,000 btuh's more of gas than you did with your old furnace. Choose a dealer wisely and ask to see the Manual J of your home (also shows cooling needs). Hope this helps....

Get as many quotes as you can. The more quotes you get, the more questions you have, the more you learn, the smarter you get. Those quotes are based on how busy or how much the contractors are looking for work. That's why its always best to get quotes now, before your system breaks and you are in a crisis. You can never negotiate a good price when you are in emergency mode. Most 16 SEER systems are 2 stage condensers. Make sure the system is quoted to you with exact model numbers of the condenser and indoor coil/air handler so you can check the actual SEER on the AHRI website. This will ensure that your're not getting the "up to 16" marketing BS. Take care.