I built a house in 2011 and moved in July. Focusing on the inside mostly, I let the outside go until Spring arrived. Before March, I hauled in several good loads of horse manure and dumped it in various spots to spread and till in. My location is quite rural, so no gated yards or perfection required on my part. I took off a week in March, and in about one day's time, with a front end loader and a tractor with a PTO tiller, I had spread the manure, tilled a few inches to incorporate, and spread grass seed and clover seed. Now two years later, it looks very nice as far as I'm concerned. There are still some areas that could use some help. The clover is bedding nicely. The fescue (I think) is spreading and matting in areas nicely. I drive on it with the truck and the car, and the tractors and mowers and it's fine. Had a somewhat dry, very hot, summer in 2012 while the "lawn" was being established. By the end of the summer, it was grown in well. No mud. But I didn't really do the hay mulching thing most people do either. And I have no sprinkler system, and I refuse to water it. 2013 was just normal maintenance like it had been before I ever built. This year, 2014, I plan to scatter more white clover and see if I can get it going in more places. I have no idea what the cost was. For the grassy lawn type area, it was just my time and grass/clover seed. Manure was free. I hauled it in my truck. I own the tractor and front end loader already. For the other area out front, a load of mulch was $450 delivered. Maybe $350. I forget. mature magnolias were $100 per tree for 3 trees as part of a larger order I found on Craig's List. Some nursery was down sizing in Orangeburg and delivered 20 varying trees for $2000 total, 50 gallon potted trees. Most are still alive. Most went out away from the house. I bought 4 Crape Myrtles from Lowe's at the end of the season in 2012 and planted those with the mags. And some other end of season bushes went in. It ain't pretty yet, but it's mine. :-)

What size and efficiency is current furnace? How did it perform? How would you describe the insulation qualities and windows of your home? I like 2 stage var speed high eff 95+ furnaces. Of course they require venting usually in a basement/crawl sauce through an ext wall. Also a two stage thermostat is required for best operation and to run furnace staging based on demand not a timer that will always go to high stage whether needed or not. Yes a manual J load calculation should be performed for correct sizing but it is difficult for me to believe you require more than 80 KBTUs. I would want a good media filter box cabinet installed as well. Any hot/cold spots in home should be pointed out to dealer for recommendations to improve. A new HVAC system is nice but only as good as the ductwork system. IMO

Great Post! I am in your situation almost exactly. My first estimate came with a rec. of Carrier, Trane, or Bryant for the same type of system you describe. My guy went with Bryant as they are made by Carrier, but less expensive. He said no to Trane as I live in Florida but 10 miles from the water and he would have suggested Trane as it has aluminum coils which would have been better for rusting if I lived my the water. He is giving me your air handler but the Bryant Legacy 215A as I do not want a 2 speed compressor. Since my elec. bills are low, he said the extra money for the Bryant Preferred 16 seer heat pump would not be a good enough pay back for the outlay. Anyway my price is $6570...quite a bit higher for something that is supposed to be cheaper than Carrier. Any comments here would be appreciate. I have 3 more "salesmen" coming, and I know someone is going to add Rheem to the list. From what I've read about Rheem, you either love them or you experience has been so bad that you hate them. So to you question:what is the best variable speed air handler with humidity controls matched with a single speed 15 seer heat pump? Thanks. Lenore

From what I can tell from a bit of googling, it wouldn't make much difference for you. Here's one link on the subject: http://www.diychatroom.com/f7/water-pipe-size-double-shower-10324/