Hi again JAG2! Your wicking idea to draw up ground water sounds ingenious Thank you. The idea was actually from a friend of mine but I thought it was a great idea too :-) One thought I had is that the wick system draws water up. I wonder what effect this will have on Co2 in the rootzone? If I only water the top of the containers (eg. "soil drench") a few times a month will I be promoting Co2 toxicity in the rootzone? ...and I would love it if you would post back later in the year and let me/us know how that works out for you. I will definitely do this for you! Given that you will be joining your container to the earth, my above comments are not as relevant so don't worry about it. In what regard? Do you still suggest I use ProMix? Or are you referring to the auto-watering system? The only thing I am somewhat uncertain of is joining the container to the earth only via a nylon wick. [snip] From playing around with the concept of capillary action my only concern is that the wick may not be able to move water upward fast enough to replace what the container uses. Me too! ;-) So that's why I'm going to add at least two "wick tubes" to each of my containers. Another thing I'm going to do is "rain scape"[1] my containers. If all else fails I can hand water them from above (if I have to do it the old fashioned way ;-) ) I will be feeding with nutrients via. hand watering by soil drench about twice a month. I hope the soil drench once every few weeks will expel enough Co2 from the air pockets. How long does it take for the rootzone to become Co2 toxic (for lack of a better term)? Still, it sounds like you have thought this through pretty well and all that remains is some experimentation. Thank you. And thank you for your assistance, your further thoughts and opinions are very welcome! [1] "Rain scaping" (my own term, I don't know real title) is big in Ethopia where they simply make two "mounds" of soil about 5-20 feet uphill (does not need to be steep) jetting outward at opposite 45 degree angles from the container/plant. All this does is funnel the rain water towards the container/plant. In Ethiopia they make a little moat around the container/plant by encircling it with the dirt mount thus allow the water to gather and slowly be absorbed. Heck, it may be a good idea to put piece of "capillary mat" under my containers with about 2-3" extra on all sides. I can encircle the "moat" around the capillary mat which should help the plant absorb the rain water more effectively with less run off and wasted rain water...Yah, natural passive hydroponic outdoor container gardening! :-)

Thank you for all of the input. A third party did clean our ductwork not long ago, and told us it was in great shape. A HERS (Whole House Home Energy Rating), duct leakage testing is mandatory in CA when installing or replacing HVAC system. It was included in both bids, $250.00. Part of the bids were to do resealing and add insulation. As to the 5 ton versus 4 ton, I gave you the wrong sq. ft., it is a little over 2,500 sq. ft. Both contractors recommend the 5 ton. When I questioned again after reading your responses, the first bidder again recommended we stay with a 5 ton. Trane: Contractor said our space was to small for the coil? on the Trane. If he went that way, would need to use an after-market part to make it work, and didn't want to do that... Mike, we do get hot weather: few weeks of 90's but can get up to 110 infrequently in the summer. 60's day but down to the 40's night, occasionally 30's, winter, but try not to overuse our units. Keep it in the mid to high 80's summer, high 60's winter. Turn off at night. Try to do our bit for energy conservation. Bid on XC13 AC condenser, $200.00 more on first bid. 90 K BTU ML180E model furnace with 5 ton rated blower, $600.00 additional. Total $6,549.00 I hope I answered all the questions. Thanks again.

If the other units showing signs of its age, it may be advisable to replace it at this time if not cost prohibitive. Some dealers may give you better pricing this way. Same thing for the A/C--less work to do it all at once since the space will be open, and cheaper. That's the way I would look at it. Have you been given any pricing, brands, models?

Thanks for the comments tigerdunes. We've been over this quite a bit already. The pricing is average for the North East....labor rates tend to be quite high and the $600 rebate makes the price of the furnaces excellent. I obviously have two stage thermostats and the sizes of the furnaces were decided after heat loss calculations. I live in an older home in a cold climate and my calculations were within 10% of my contractor's. The calculation for my two floor unit came in at 75kBTUs. The contractor initially wanted to install a 100kBTU unit, but I talked him down to 80kBTU. The furnace for the renters below me is a bit large, but it was the smallest two stage available from American Standard. I thought about installing a 92% efficient 40kBTU single stage furnace with selectable motor speed, but as the 60kBTU two stage with variable speed motor was the same price after the rebate I went with that one.so that both furnaces essentially the same and to get the variable speed blower. I imagine having the second stage will also be nice on very cold mornings.