Since you say you are locating this home at the base of a rise, consider your drainage options carefully during the earliest phase of construction, even before the foundation is laid out. I do not know much of the technicalities of this, but in some instances some sort of piping or other arrangement is placed under houses so there will be no water buildup. Maybe you have already dealt with this issue. You might want to go to your site during a heavy spring rain to see just what you will be dealing with here. Plantings and mulchings can probably help a bit over the long run, as can ditches, etc, but the right construction initially could save you a good deal of trouble. Any sign of dry drainage (small dry streambeds, etc) pointed in the general vicinity of your plot call for investigation as well. You might even want to determine what happens to drainage from the hill further back. I am aware of one neighborhood where the street washes out every spring due to drainage from a fairly distant, but rather large, mountain. You might also watch for signs of spring erosion on your access road if that is an issue. Just because your local governmental unit does not require testing, such as a "perk test" , does not mean it would not be in your best interest to get one. Damp houses are uncomfortable and unhealthy. While you're at it, I would get a look at the town's plot plan for the whole area you are building in, to see what the 100-year flood coverage looks like, and plan accordingly. One family in my area raised their home and constructed a mound under it after being flooded by the nearby creek. Good luck with your construction!

The independent HVAC company that deals mainly with American Standard equipment is telling me this (will send quote via e-mail later this week): 1. Need 3.5 ton unit because new refrigerant 410A is not as cold as R-22. Also, insulation in older homes in Southern California is not good, so need stronger ac unit. 2. He says that he doesn't need to do a Manual J. His 25 years of experience says to stay with 3.5 ton unit. Also, recommends replacing evap coils and furnace. 3. Noticed that existing furnace is upright/standing rather than laying flat. He's the 2nd guy to shake his head at the way it's installed. He says it's not efficient to put a furnace upright and the evap coils on the side of the upgright furnace. 4. He doesn't work with rebates, so he doesn't want to bring outside company to test energy efficiency prior and after install. He says the extra money you spend on trying to qualify for a rebate is a waste and not worth in the long run. I told him that the Costco affiliated company will do rebates and will test. He says California is going broke and probably no money for rebates. He also said that I need a 90% efficient furnace to qualify for rebates. 5. Asked if I wanted to get the permits myself. Kept saying that city is likely to ask me to move outside condenser due to its closeness to new pool. I told him I got permits 4 years ago for pool and pool equipment and city approved the location of pool and pool equipment and a/c unit was there already. 6. Says to use existing ducts and vents/registers. Will probably use same lineset since it will outlast my lifetime. 7. This guy is the actual installer. Company is so busy, they couldn't send me the salesperson. He came from finishing an install at another house. ----------------------------------------- Costco affiliated HVAC company (www.airtro.com) will also send me quote via e-mail tonight or tomorrow. Sent the salesman who says he'll be the supervisor for the job at the start. 1. Says that I can go with 3 ton a/c unit with new evap coils. Keep lineset. Says that double-pane windows help. Says Fraser-Johnson was low end unit. Says Lennox is much better. 2. Says furnace should not be upright in attic and says it's a bad installation. Recommends new furnace. 3. Permits will cost about $200 to pull. 4. Will bring a company to test ducts/energy efficiency to qualify for best possible rebate amount(probably $1500). Can't promise, but says that's his company has not been denied a rebate yet. They will do all the paperwork. 5. Recommends new ducts and a new vent/register in kitchen. Recommends dampers in ducts to evenly distribute air. Says some existing ducts are the rigid ones and might have moved/shifted over time, so he's certain that I'm losing 30% of air. $2000 to do all new ducts. 6. Problem is he only offers Lennox Merit equipment for $7000, $2000 for ducts, $200 for permits. I'm expecting a detailed quote. He says equipment is the best in the industry. 1-year labor warranty and the standard 5-year equipment warranty on the a/c unit from Lennox. I can upgrade to Lennox Elite for $2000 more, but it's a 2-stage system that I don't want. Did not recommend anything outside of the Costco price list. 7. Showed me awards from Angie's list and local newspaper, BBB certificate, insurance coverage, etc. True salesperson. My overall impression is that the American Standard independent installer seemed to say that he's been doing this for xx years and he knows what's best for me. Don't need rebates and don't need permits. That's what it felt like, but I told him I want permits. I told him I want all American Standard equipment like the Gold SI compressor, matching coils to maximize SEER, and a compatible AS furnace at 80% efficiency. The Costco affiliated company wants to charge me for a full-system (cut-in) which includes new ducts, new registers, new equipment, etc. I think that he wants to put a new register in the kitchen to justify the $2000 duct charge on the price list. I felt that this salesperson was recommending the package rather than my needs. He did have a checklist of items to go over, so it felt like we had a more complete conversation minus a technical discussion on how to ensure that all the Lennox components fit my needs and achieve the best possible SEER. I think that after reading so many posts here and getting so much advice, I was expecting more. I suppose that I'll find out more when I get the quotes via e-mail and see how detailed they are. Also, I'll see how they respond once i start making changes to the equipment based on opinions from this board.

GoTerps let's look at each system's numbers. option #1 3929268 Active Systems XC14 SERIES LENNOX INDUSTRIES, INC. XC14-024-230-02 CX34-25+TDR SL280UH090V36B* 24000 13.20 16.00 option #2 3929121 Active Systems XC14 SERIES LENNOX INDUSTRIES, INC. XC14-030-230-03 CX34-31+TDR SL280UH090V36B* 29000 13.50 16.00 option #3 3656259 Active Systems COMFORT 16 PURON AC CARRIER AIR CONDITIONING 24ACC624A**30 CNPV*3014A** 58CV(A,X)070-12 23000 13.00 16.00 1 option #4 3656288 Active Systems COMFORT 16 PURON AC CARRIER AIR CONDITIONING 24ACC630A**30 CNPV*3117A** 58CV(A,X)070-12 28400 13.00 16.00 1 all qualify for tax credit. three observations. 1.The Lennox furnace is oversized and should drop down to the 70K model. 2.It is important that lineset be sized correctly whether you select 2 ton or 2 1/2 ton condenser. Flushing is acceptable practice but refrigerant lineset size must be correct. If you elect the 2 1/2 ton condenser, it is unlikely that old lineset will be correct size 3.I do not like thermostat selection for these quotes. I would like to hear from Ryan's ideas/suggestions on this. I do recommend a good 4-5" box filter cabinet. I would not put down more than 25% upon contract acceptance. now to the fuel comparison between electric vs nat gas. to be fair, I will use 50 therms mthly usage to better average your nat gas mthly base charge. Cost per 100,000 btu of useable heat Heat Pump with COP of 2.75 $1.15 Nat Gas Furnace 80% eff $1.81 you can readily see that a HP above temp balance pt is the less expensive choice to heat your home. Keep in mind the main reason for the large difference is the 80% eff furnace. yes, if operating costs are important to you, then HP operation would save you some $$s. ask dealer for option on HP condenser version if interested. IMO

I think I miss spoke. If two surge suppressors are both plugged into the same outlet they would protect each appliance that were plugged into each of them but ONLY from surges. But the circuit that both surge protectors are plugged into would not be able to handle a large draw (if say the washers built in heater is on during the Sanitary cycle AND the dryer is on just powering the motor and glow igniter). Therefore to protect the circuit the fuse or tripper would kick in and turn off the whole circuit and anything else on that line. For instance (not the same scenario but close) if my washer is doing the Sanitary cycle (on board heater is active), and I plug in a hand held clothes iron in another outlet that shares that circuit then the fuse blows (tripper trips) turning off power to the whole circuit. If I plug that clothes iron in another outlet that's on different circuit than the washer uses, then each will keep running fine since each circuit can handle each draw independently.