You are replacing a 3 ton condenser? Unless your furnace has a var speed blower motor, you should stick with a good 13 SEER rated condenser. I notice you did not provide model number of evap coil. A big deal. I would not have a third party evap coil. Get the model number and brand for each quote and post back. Since the furnace is relatively new, is there a reason you did not get a quote on an Armstrong condenser and coil? That way you would have a completely matched system. IMO This post was edited by tigerdunes on Tue, Apr 22, 14 at 11:23

April, You keep starting new threads so it is difficult to review what advice you have received. Contractor #1 Option 2 is the nicest combination in my opinion. It is a Infinity 2 stage furnace (58UVB)and 2 stage condenser (24APA7). You could consider upgrading the furnace to the 58MVC for about $400 in order to get the middle stage. I still think the 58UVB qualifies for a Carrier rebate. Please check this. I have not heard of a Carrier armour coil. I know the tin plated coil is an improvement of Carrier's old leaky coils. This is the coil I have. The contractor needs to size the equipment by doing a heat loss and gain calculation. This is known in the industry as a Manual J calculation. Have each contractor explain how he calculated the size. I assume the summers in Michigan are not too hot, so the 3 ton unit may be the correct size.

I can't recommend hoods I've never used, but will comment on general requirements and how particular hoods seem to conform or not. The blurb under each price for the two Best units describes the differences -- baffles vs. mesh filters, for example, plus the (somewhat unneeded in my view) automatic blower control for the more expensive. I would go for baffles, but the flow rate into the hood aperture should be capable of around 90 ft/min, which corresponds to 90 CFM/sq. foot of aperture. The Best baffle hood's aperture area seems to be under 6 sq. ft., so a flow rate of 540 CFM is desirable. Unfortunately, this hood has a 600 CFM blower. Because blowers are rated in open air, and the baffles and other parts of the ventilation system (including MUA) cause pressure losses, it likely won't actually pull more than 400-ish CFM through this hood. So you might be a little under served. An 800 CFM blower would be better. (I wouldn't be surprised if within the myriad Best offerings there was a more powerful hood of this size, with or without the auto feature.) Mesh filters (if kept religiously clean) likely collect grease better than baffles at lower air flows (from the air that gets by them) but these lower flow rates may not be sufficient to keep the rising cooking plumes from partially reflecting from the metal surfaces and escaping out of the hood. This depends on what you cook, as it is a function of rising effluent velocity, which is related to pan surface temperature plus, where applicable, gas flame heat content. For more background, review the many hood threads on this forum. kas

I would do three on that island.