I'm gonna throw my two cents' in here since I am a former Master Gardener (let my certification lapse because the local group was like a garden club), and as a landscape designer, I've done work with a community group to landscape the entrance to their neighborhood. All the above posts are correct about the Master Gardener program. Some Master Gardeners are professionals, but the MG certification is a part of their volunteer life. MGs aren't typically trained in design, although some clearly have a talent for it. You'll more likely get advice on plant selection and prepping the site, but you'll still need a design, and for that you should turn to an LD. Having done a project like what you're needing, I have to say it was probably one of the least pleasant experiences of my professional life, and here's why: there were way too many chiefs and not near enough indians in the community group, there wasn't a clearly defined "go-to" person on the committee, they expected a discount because they were a community group (but not a non-profit), and the day of the installation I had very well-intentioned community members bringing in their leftover lantana or newly dug-up iris bulbs or a fern that was inappropriate for the site... You get the picture. I learned a lot from that job, even though I had a clearly defined contract with the group as to who was doing what and what it would cost. My advice is to have ONE person from your group and one person only that deals directly with the designer. Figure out what your budget is, don't expect freebies from a professional, organize your volunteer group well, and respect the time of the designer. Sign your contract promptly and return with the necessary deposit. On the day of installation, please do not allow your community/committee members to try to change the design or throw in extra plants that won't work. Trust the professional advice of your designer. I learned to be more clearly defined in my work and communications with clients, and to keep boundaries carefully drawn. It can be a great community experience for everyone involved, as long as everyone involved is respectful of boundaries and communicates clearly. good luck!

The fridge is now at the recycling center. It was never necessary for me to know details. That this old fridge used a lot of energy is all I needed to know. Within a few months i will be able to compare my monthly power bill. This gives an order of magnitude. Assuming other habits remain the same, after 12 or 24 months I can see an average drop. A power meter at the plug is just-for-fun; it's too much detail if you already know the answer and you aren't trying to find out. We ordered our new fridge before today but it is not here yet. The old fridge is (was) on a pedestal 18" above the floor. To move it to get to its plug would have required a major operation of muscle power. Don't feel like calling my friend(s) in for that. Hope this explains why i never got around to its measuring power consumption. We knew it was a power hog anyway, and moving it was a bear. Hope you don't mind my guessing that a fridge is less efficient when 26 years old than when new. Hope you don't mind my not measuring my own consumption although I did respond to someone else's query "how can we know" by saying they can measure power at the plug with a meter. I have a power meter. Someone in my household misplaced it. One day it will pop up. I intend to use it for the new fridge and for other things. Just to satisfy curiosity. -david

Hello, You did very good in keeping the condenser for 20 years. It sounds like your system was installed correctly and did not work too hard during the hot months. This is important in helping equipment last longer. Todays Hype by highly advertized brands comes with a hidden cost. Lower quality equipment. Peace of mind may dictate you replacing the system now, but keep an open mind towards repair. IMO, the older equipment from the early 1980's is probably a better machine because this was before all of the cheapening of parts. Capacitors are not oil filled, which means they have a shorter life. Condenser motors are not built as well. Stuff that was originally designed for 20 years is now lasting 5-10 years. And needs repair every 2 years or so. Electronics in the system is expensive to repair. Once again IMO the older HVAC is less efficient but cheaper to operate. Newer equipment, to maintain the quoted ratings, requires larger line sets. Although fluid mechanics design has not changed in a hundred years, the newer systems need larger lines. What this means is the lines can deliver more fluid to the evaporator, and produce more cooling. Not a larger evaporator but more flow. This is a cost vs performance decision made by marketing. Shifting part of the cost of efficiency to the consumer installation rather than larger coil area and basic equipment costs. Kinda cheating on the price quoted to consumers. TRANE and other tier 1 companies are following in MAYTAG's footsteps in designing for shorter equipment life. Maytag eventally was forced to sell. They could not keep up with warrantee repairs. Typical marketing is still claiming 20 year life to explain the payback, but in reality the calculations are skewed. Rheem, York, ICP and all of the other second tier level manufacturers probably produce equipment closer to what TRANE claims they offer, but with a lower cost. Rheem has really cornered the gas modulating furnace market. The AC side is easily serviced. The units look good. Traditionally Goodman was a product that had zero quality control. Many units I installed in the 1980-1990's had a small problem. Never the same problem, but always a problem. This added time to installations. Very frusterating on a hot summer day. Goodman is the #2 manufacturer of HVAC in America. Goodman has much better Quality control today. One recent discussion was about how Goodman could meet 13 SEER without a TXV valve. No other company regularly does this. This means fewer mechanical parts that will go bad on a hot day. This $20 OEM cost part equates to about $100 less to the consumer. Adding a TXV valve increases AC efficiency and Goodman sells the upgrade part. The size of the condenser coil is larger than normal which allows this exceptionally good design. Kinda neat. I had a repair last summer on a air handler made by a small company in Dallas. 'First company" The unit did not have a schematic so I called them, hoping to get some help. They not only had a schematic, but it was tthe same design and even wire colors for more than 20 years. I was impressed. Then they told me they made product for York. I yawned on that claim. They then told ne they were a 100 million dollar company. This is not a billion dollar business, but something to be proud of. I would highly recommend thier airhandlers. They also make several models that also have hydronic and Freon coils built into the air handler, along with strip heat. The prices are very reasonable. This can allow preheating of hot water or hydronic floor heat. This is a sleeper product. The heating of floors in your climate area is very popular. Very neat IMO.

The idea of a split system for two furnaces is good and bad. Most two zone, rather two furnaces or duct switching, splits the heating so that the bedrooms are on one circuit, the rest of the house on the other. Then, one can, say warm the bedrooms up in the morning to get showered, dressed and ready for work, while leaving the rest of the house at a set back temperature. There are other strategies I'm sure. For the benefit of two furnaces providing redundancy, one would like some cross-over so that heat can be to more/most rooms. This could be a manual duct switch. All this doesn't make a sense economically unless the system is being built, new, or can be easily modified. Most furnaces don't fail...but when they do it is always in the coldest time of year, when it is under the most stress. I use an wood airtight insert in my fireplace as my emergency backup.