I lived in Philly for a few years. That was my introduction to humid Summers. When I got out into the countryside, it was my introduction to chiggers, ticks and poison ivy too. Great and livable city though. I think that the pros are going to want to take a close look at your boiler and its operation. If heating load is shifted away from the boiler, it becomes a less efficient way to heat DHW. "I don't think removing the radiators was in the plan. I love the heat, grew up with that sort of heat, so would like to keep them." I can't agree more. "One of the other reasons we are interested in a central air system is we seem to have high humidity in the house. New double pane windows were put in, and we usually have moisture on the inside of them in the mornings and at nite. The R.H. Is usually in the 55-62% range" This condensation is happening in the winter? You must have a pretty tightly-sealed house or be engaged in a lot of humidity-generating activities: Big family with lots of long showers and no exhaust fan? Lots of cooking with bad or no exhaust vent? Growing lots of plants (legal, I hope)? Damp basement? Line dry laundry indoors or bad dryer vent?

daft punk Reread my post. I never wrote "Crown was lower end" Youre quoting in parenthesis something I never wrote. I did say that Crowns furnace was Thermoprides "lower grade". What does that mean? No octagon heat exchanger No Copper heat exchanger coating Less Cleanouts That said, without buying an actual Thermopride; Crown, American Standard, Trane and maybe others that used Thermoprides unit are the best. And you are wrong again on Crown making furnaces. I have been there and they do assemble boilers though. Call Crown in Phili, ask for Nate and he will confirm. BTW, they don't make their gas furnaces either. They are made by Texas Furnace. Those that remember the early Carrier units with the front vestibules will know what I'm talking about. What Carrier sold furnaces they didn't make? You bet. Marco, not to burst your bubble, Ducane made oil junk furnaces for just about everybody back in the 80's-90's. Listing a unit on your site doesnt give positive proof you made it. Just that you have permission to sell it under your label. (Heil, Lennox, Carrier, Amana, and so on) When you attend as many ASHRAE, Comforttech, NISOH, shows and factory tours over the years as I have, you learn and know all the players.

I'll focus on the HVAC side since I don't know much about direct vent hot water tanks. The quote provides enough information about what they plan to do which gives me a good feeling about this installer. However since you are providing the equipment, the quote is high in my opinion. Sounds like they are still quoting the job as if they provided it and marked it up. I think it can come down at least $5k. Who is providing high voltage power to these units, or is this an additional cost paid to another contractor? Also to clarify, will there be multiple returns on the first floor as well or one central return in the living room? I would clarify with the dealer about the ductwork system. By the quote it sounds like it is all hard metal, with no flex duct even in the attic where it is common. If this is the case, great. This could account for why the quote is on the higher end. I would strongly consider upgrading to the 15 SEER condensers if the unit price increase is not more than a couple hundred per unit. They should be quieter and are overall nicer units in my opinion even if they have the same cabinet. Another upgrade to look into is a high efficiency media filter for each unit. They typically get replaced every 6 months or in some cases up to a year, and they provide better filtration of the air and hence protection of the equipment. These may add a couple hundred per unit installation.

Runtal USA is pretty local to me so they get used quite a bit around here as an alternative to ordinary baseboard - in my previous house the plumber (plumbers mostly do the hot-water-based heating here, HVAC people are for forced hot air and AC) tried to talk me into a Runtal radiator/towel warmer for the bathroom. They just didn't have a style I liked. Buderus and Myson are also well known in the industry for good quality products; I've never heard of Veha and after getting into deep doodie with using a relatively unknown, bargain priced brand (Hudson-Reed) for the radiator/towel warmer in previous house's bathroom I'd personally stick with the big names. The bloody thing leaked nonstop and I canceled out the savings over a similar Myson by having the plumber back to tinker with it half a dozen times!