Heat pump mini splits have a variety of options for indoor units including high wall-mounted as you have seen, Radiant floor heat is certainly nice, but it will cost a whole lot less to install forced air for cooling and heating or use heat-pump mini-splits for both. Electric heat is very expensive to run. Can you install a boiler of some sort instead? You could heat water for radiant heat with a air to water heat pump or a ground-source heat pump. The mini-splits have the advantage (over ducts) of not having duct losses and not pressurizing some areas and depressurizing others at the same time.

What is your cost of oil/gal and cost of electric/KWH? I will run a fuel cost comparison and give you the results. You have a ductwork system in place and have AC? Electric service will need to be checked for capacity. It is preferred to place condenser, air handler, and backup heat strips on separate circuits. How large is home? How is home's insulation qualities? Here is my general spec sheet for new system. both outside and inside units should be replaced to have a properly matched system. 15 SEER, 12.5+ EER, 9 HSPF best matching VS air handler full BTUs in both cooling and heating for your rated size R-410a refrigerant(same as Puron) scroll compressor preferred electronic demand defrost preferred thermostat with "dehumidify on demand" feature staged backup heat strips new and correctly sized refrigerant lineset 10 yr warranty on parts and compressor you want a thorough inspection of your ductwork system. size, overall condition, supply and return lines, insulation qualities, leak test, etc. any hot/cold spot issues in your home should be addressed. My personal recommendation is Trane/AmStd, Rudd/Rheem, and Carrier/Bryant. Because of your location, I would not purchase a new system that did not have electronic demand defrost. IMO This post was edited by tigerdunes on Mon, May 20, 13 at 6:36

"Thanks, Julie. I will ask these questions. I was concerned today when I looked up these units online. The 4 ton unit and the 3 ton unit have similar list prices. But the hvac contractor charged me $1500 extra for the 4 ton. Also online it is listed as having a 10 year warranty. But I was told it was 5 year. I hope I am not being ripped off." Well that's a good question and a fair one I think. I do not work in the hvac field and my knowledge of the industry is minimal, but I can tell you just like any field, there are people out there whose sole intent is to rip you off. Fortunately most of the guys that respond to questions on this forum seem very very reputable and know there stuff so I would take thier advice. I can tell you that 2 years ago I had two heat pump systems go out on me at my home, both were 16 years old. When I started looking into replacing them I was shocked at the cost. At one point I had two different contractors quoting me prices on the exact same equipment.. one contractor gave me a price that was 4 thousand dollars less than contractor number 2. He also told me they would be in and out in 1 day.. Contractor #2 said it would take him 3 or 4 days. Even though he was going to take longer and cost 4K more, I went with him because I had a good feeling about his company. Not only did he own the company, he did the installation himself. Boy was I lucky, last year contractor #1 was arrested for selling top of the line equipment to a school system but installing low grade equipment. I will also reiterate what I've read countless times on this forum, the installation is paramount. I had never heard of the brand my contractor offered so I was skeptical. But he gave me a 10 year warranty across the board and I had him install two 16 seer Air Ease heat pumps. So far I'm delighted.. My house is right at 3000 sq. feet and this summer we have had numerous days that hit 100 or higher ( Louisiana ) and I have only had one bill that hit the $200. Not only that, I'm able to keep my house warmer in the winter than I ever could with my old carrier units. As for the contractor, had 1 issue last year, he came out, fixed it, no charge... so yes, contractor / installation are most important. If you're feeling alittle uncomfortable with a contractor or his proposal, step back and check them out thoroughly before signing on the line... I got lucky and so far it seems I made the right choice and would hate to see you get ripped off. Good luck with your decision.

Hearing that the Carrier 18VS makes odd noises when going into the OFF cycle, makes me think twice about that choice because one of the reasons we were going with Carrier was for the quietness. Quietness from one brand or model to the next is typically referring to run time, while the unit is running. They will use words like "noise as low as" If a unit is 50-60 DB when running vs a slightly noiser 70-72 DB you won't notice the difference between those "when running" -- it's unnoticeable by the human ear. The difference is in start up and in some cases shut off noises. Those noises (start up / shut down) I doubt they are included in the noise level of the systems sound level as advertised. The hissing noise for this particular unit (Carrier 5 speed) --- I doubt you will find anything about it on line, except if you do a search on this board. The mfg's exist to sell you, not tell you of things you aren't going to like. That's my job, to inform you. (some on here like to roll eyes, stick noses up when I say anything here.) There was a recent noise complaint on this board about Carrier install. Mike_home exhibiting some selective amnesia. That said the hissing noises the 5 speed machine makes when cycling off aren't what I would call "loud"... but noticeable. If you place it near a bedroom window, some people are light sleepers it would be annoying. That said it's not a good idea to place any condenser near a bedroom window. It's the quote unquote rule, for those that know better. ;-) -------- The other problem that talks about repair costs and such -------- All major manufacturer's in USA in the all variable or inverter realm require their upper realm machine to be communicating or suffer a crippling of performance. These communicating attributes are things you pay for. This is one such reason the Bosch Inverter stands alone. There are no communicating requirements to operate it. Start up and shut down of Bosch is virtually silent.