Hi! I've been sick all weekend, and just now checked my email. Thanks for the heads up. I sent you and Nickey my address. Back to bed. Leigh

Hi Merri, thanks for checking in...you sound busy, and then some! Things here in L'burg have been pretty tense...one of our "tall ships" lost a crew member when a rogue wave swept her off the ship and so the town is very subdued. It's good to hear your enthusiasm, hope we can be forgiven for conversing on this side of our forum....M

First, the contractor needs to do a Manual J heat gain / loss calc to determine proper system sizing. Depending on your utility rates (I think you have cheap electric in Washington State), you can get a heat pump for primary heating, and a gas furnace as auxiliary heat (back-up heat). The heat pump doubles as a central a/c unit for summertime cooling. This "dual-fuel" system also provides choices for you if the cost of one of the fuels (gas or electric) rises dramatically in the future. FYI: the gas furnace would be located inside the air handler if it is a forced-air system (no radiators or baseboards). You make it sound like the air handler and furnace are separate now. If you have ductwork in the attic, it is critical that it is checked for leaks (and proper sizing as well). I would recommend that you get several quotes and not just go with Mr Lennox. The more quotes you get, the more you see the range in pricing between contractors. Good luck.

Hiya Jackie.. I have the Canadian distributor ready to go but we did not pull the trigger and load him up with inventory because your deck season has just about come to an end up there. The company distributing for us up there will be loaded with inventory come April 2007. I'll keep ya posted ;-)