If you haven't used it on something else yet, both systems qualify for the $1500 federal tax credit which is nice. The 16 seer system gives you a higher seer rating (17.55 as compared to 15.00)which helps during summer months. The HSPF rating is 8.8 as compared to 8.5. BUT - the 14 seer unit gives you a higher heating capacity so less time you'd be using the electric heat strip. Being in upstate NY - I would think you would be more worried about heating than cooling. Typically - the 16 seer system would be a more costly system so it sounds like you may be able to 'make a deal' with the 14 seer system. Ask them for a free humidifier or something of that nature.

**What are the indoor and outdoor design temperatures used in the calculation?** Winter: outside 42 F/inside 70 F Summer: outside 97 F/inside 75 F **What are the sensible, latent, and total cooling BTU numbers?** I'm trying to attach a picture on the calculation that was done, but this is what I see Sensible Cooling Equipment Load Sizing: structure 48078 BTU, ducts 11989 BTU, equipment sensible load 61268 BTU Latent Cooling Equipment Load Sizing: Structure 494 BTU, ducts 314 BTU, equipment latent load 808BTU, equipment total load 62076 BTU Cooling Equipment Summary: sensible cooling 0 BTU, latent cooling, 0 BTU, total cooling, 0 BTU (The calculations actually WERE done by the Carrier contractor, but I'm feeling a little concerned now about them. I noticed the footnotes say the front door faces N, when it is NE. Not sure if that's a negligible difference or indicative of sloppy work.) **A temperature drop of 10-15 degrees on the bedroom supply is significant. Does the duct work travel through unconditioned space?** Yes **How much insulation is in the attic? You want at least R30. Increasing the attic insulation is going to help the temperature differential.** There is no attic space. The roof is basically right above the upstairs ceiling with maybe a foot of space between the two. There is no crawl space or access to this area unless you open up the ceiling drywall. This is where the upstairs ductwork is located. It is probably the original 1976 ductwork, 5" diameter. A camera inserted in one of the grills for a very rudimentary visual inspection showed that this main upstairs line is not in the best shape. When we settle on a contractor we were planning to try to get a more thorough inspection and expect that this ductwork should probably be replaced. I'm not really sure what our insulation options are, but the Carrier contractor (who is an approved Energy Upgrade CA contractor) seemed to be hinting that our options are expensive and limited.

Quote: My experience is that the effect of warm air rising and cold air sinking tends to mess with the effect of the multiple zones. In the summer time the upstairs thermostat calls for cooling while the downstairs thermostat does not but because the cold air sinks the basement and first floor stay cooler than the second floor. End Quote. It will to one degree or another, however a zone system is designed to 'minimize' this problem by controls that direct the cooling or heating to where you want it. Naturally the upper levels of the home will call for cooling more frequently than lower levels. Zoning isn't entirely perfect, in many cases it depends on the home layout. If you have a home that is more 'open' you will get bleed thru from one zone to another. But what difference does it make if you have better control? Assuming of course the zone system is installed properly... many times they are not. The best control of a zone is a zone in which there are 4 walls and a door and preferably there is a return as well as supply duct(s) within that zone. On a multiple level home that is zoned the equation changes some what in that each level of the home is typically a zone. Sure the bottom levels of the home will be cooler than the top level (second floor). The idea in zoning the AC to the basement is to 'limit' the amount of cooling it receives... otherwise the complaint is always the 1st level is too warm and the basement is too cool. Zoning is merely to give you better control and reduce complaints. The other thing that you may not realize is that zoning has the capability to cool one area while heating another area. Not at the same time of course with one HVAC system, but it can vary the cycles. It's all about comfort and control when it comes to zoning. (Think of a yuppie 3 level home with only 1 HVAC system.) Without zoning can you imagine the fights of the lower level of a 3 story home with 1 HVAC system in fall and spring seasons with someone who is on the 3rd level? Savings can be achieved by only cooling or heating areas of the home that need it.

Those prices are high. When you pay that much for HVAC, it really makes sense to superinsulate and then just use electric baseboards. Even 1/2 of $17k would get the structure to a level where you could fully heat with electric baseboards for what you want for $100 a year. If you need a/c, do a minisplit for $4000 installed and that $100 goes to $30. By superinsulate - sprayfoam is not it. In your climate, you want R40 walls which is achieved by 12 inch thick walls with cellulose/fiberglass or 3-4 inches of rigid foam on top of 2x4 wall. Sprayfoam has its place but filling a cavity with it is not what it is best for. Are you really looking at R20 walls? Is that even code? Or is there rigid foam that you have also? There are no drafts in a modern wall - fiberglass or not. $8k for sprayfoam is a waste. If it is 2 inches of rigid foam on the outside - then it is not. My walls in NC are zip R3 over fiberglass bibs in 2x6. The small amount of rigid foam just helps with the thermal bridging of the framing. The bibs fill voids much better than batts. It is blown in. We have foam in small areas that bibs would not work with. I think $10k did our 3800 sqft house (not counting the zip R which was $3k upcharge over zip). I would think you would want R-80 in the roof which is probably best achieved by rigid foam over the sheathing given the rafter space needed. Or you could just do code minimum and minisplit with electric baseboard back up it since it isn't full time use.