This bid is high. Knowing that are you purchasing through a national store chain such as Sears, the bid may be higher than necessary. Sears takes their cut from the job and usually farms the job out to a contractor. Because of this, Sears' bids are typically the highest there are. They want you to finance it on your Sears card so the amount doesn't matter so much in the short term. In the long run, you are just about going to pay for the system twice unless you pay it off quick. True, a 4 ton is harder to qualify for the tax credit. To get in range for the credit, you may have to upsize your evaporator coil to get to the efficiency needed. This can result in sub-standard de-humidification in some applications. Carrier does make a high end model (with a scroll compressor and an ECM condenser fan motor)-- that has a higher efficiency. Of course, that unit is more expensive. I can't be sure what you are getting without model numbers. What you are paying so much extra for are (1) the two stage compressor and (2) the Infinity Control which is proprietary and (according to most) unsurpassed in comfort control. The two stage compressor is more efficient because it runs longer (fewer starts and stops) and can run at lower speeds most of the time. This results in better de-humidification, lower sound levels and more even temperature between rooms. Is it worth the extra money? I would say so. However, some would disagree with me on that point. You can check out other forums (and on this forum) to see what others think of the Infinity system. I have two of them myself and am exceedingly pleased with mine. Good luck!

We had a total of three bids. The first and third pool company was very detailed with their bid. The second one was very detailed when they presented it to us but the print out they gave us to take home was not very detailed. I don't think it's necessarily a red flag, just that some PB do things differently. If you want you can always speak with PB #2 and ask for a detailed version of everything that is included in the price. This way you can compare to PB #1. He should be willing to speak with you in detail about what he's offering and why he's cheaper. Don't be afraid to ask the PB #2 why he's cheaper than the competition and how can he afford to be cheaper. Remember you are giving up your hard earned money for this pool, so don't be afraid to ask questions. Keep in mind that cheaper is not always better. When you say that all your bids were different, how much was the difference? The three bids we got were around the same range. I think the biggest difference was about $5,000.

Thank you for your responses! Renovator: There are many projects. Some don't involve the kitchen. Those do not have a designer per say, though some of the kitchen people have commented on the mudroom since it adjoins the kitchen and involves changing the pantry. At least one of the contractors seem to be able to enhance what I want and can just have a carpenter build where needed. One clearly wants a design plan for all of the spaces. For something like coffered ceilings, I think we (us with the contractor, no designer) decide on the molding, # of boxes, and lighting. That job could be combined with changing chandeliers in the dining room and other rooms since an electrician would be needed (and it would be easier to group the tasks into one visit vs. being charged for multiple visits by an electrician. But I'm not sure when we will have the light fixtures picked out. However, if the kitchen is more expensive than expected the coffered ceiling project can be sacrificed. Refinishing the floors, painting and some minor bathroom reno can start before the kitchen reno. However, I am also interviewing a separate floor guy who came highly recommended and a separate painter I came across through another group. The office is the most vague project. I'm getting the impression that it will be too costly to do with the KDs. One person said that we should wait a few years and see what happens with elderly MIL (who will be staying in the downstairs office when she visits) which is partly why we need an upstairs office. I think this project might go to the local cabinet builder guy if his costs come in better, One person said just buy furniture. However, we have such a mish mash right now and really needed a lot more filing space and organization that I felt like we needed something more custom. The office is a sore point for us as we have papers everywhere and not enough places to put them. Trying to scan more but we need a better computer, more virtual storage, etc. and our current printer/scanner which is only a few years old isn't working that well. But I digress Greendesigns, so maybe what you are saying is that I decide on the contractor for phases of the entire work (which are discreet projects) and that the kitchen gets decided last, after I pick a designer? Or if the estimates for the kitchen contractor job are dramatically different, maybe I could narrow it down to finalists and then only ask two to fine tune estimates vs. four contractors? But I don't want to get caught short. I think two of the contractors are juggling things so I don't want it to turn out that they can't do my job once we set a timetable. Also, for something like changing light fixtures should I get a separate handyman or just tack it on to one of the other jobs that involves an electrician? Would a handyman charge less or would that be offset by a separate visit? Thank you both!

@kudzu9, If we didn't have the permits I might be tempted to wait a year. I think what we do now is take a good look at where we can save by cutting back, at what things we are willing to do without and what things are priorities. This will be our retirement home, so we do want it to be right. And I don't want to be sitting around for 20 years looking at cheap doors because we didn't want to spend the money now. My general philosophy is, when you can afford it, is to buy quality and buy once. It will be ok. It's just a shame we wasted so much money and time with that bad contractor.