Hi. I am in the process of replacing a failed HP system. I am seeking advice and comments from this sage crowd on this website. I am not terribly savvy on this stuff but I tried to do some homework, including looking through this forum. Yet, I know that some people still will blow smoke up my chimney and it is hard to separate fact from hyperbole. Original system was York installed 20 years ago. The blower motor crashed and burned and from what my wife was told of the expense, I decided enough was enough (we've done other increasingly expensive maintenance for the last couple years). Nearly everyone in this area (mid-Atlantic states) has been quoting Carrier and Bryant. A couple of them talked about Trane but still said they do almost all Carrier/Bryant. Contrary to the advice I read on Checkbook.org, I haven't been able to get most of them to get specific on capacity except one. The others just assumed to replace my 3.5 ton with an new 3.5 ton. The house is 2800 sqft plus unfinished basement. One of the firms said that based on rough calculations of a needing 1 ton for every 600-700 sq ft indicate that we were probably undersized. The house is Colonial style and the ducting was done to go left side and right side instead of up/down. Hence, we have rooms upstairs that get pretty hot in the summer while the downstairs stays cold. HERE ARE THE BASIC OPTIONS I NEED TO CHOOSE BETWEEN. I am still waiting for some quotes for Carrier brand, but that guy is so slow with a proposal, I'm not comfortable with responsiveness. Option 1) $7100 Bryant "Preferred" line model 265. 3.5 ton. FE4BNF005-20 air handler. said to be 15.5 SEER. 10 year compressor. 2 year labor. Option 2) $5900 Bryant "Legacy" line model 223. FV4BNF005-20 air handler. Said to be 14 SEER. 10 year compressor 2 year labor The guys for the above options did not recommend any size changes (I asked if they were going to do a load calculation) and said if it was OK before, then it'll be Ok in the future. They also only referenced re-ducting as a drastic, too expensive option for mitigating the air differential between up/down. I then received some more options from another rep who also threw in some twists. First of all, he ran some numbers and said that we were undersized. With respect to the cooling differential, this guy said he could put in either manual or automatic damper system on some smaller feeder lines that go to the main level, with separate thermostats to reduce airflow to the main level, and force more cooling upstairs. On the heat pump, he also strongly recommended a 2 stage system that would allow the system to ramp down to the 2 ton level when it was only cooling upstairs. His claim was that we would save much more energy since the downstairs has always been cooled so easily in the summer. He ended up mixing the Bryant Heat Pump and Air Handler lines because he said Bryant's Evolution handler can't be used with the automated damper system he was also proposing. Automated Damper System add-on: $2000 or Manual Damper System add-on: $400 Option 3) $7900 Combination of Bryant Evolution 4-ton, 2-stage heat pump model 286 and older air handler FV4BNF005 (compatible with the automated damper add-on). 10 years compressor. 5 years parts. 5 years labor Option 4) $7760 Bryant 4-ton, 2-stage pump Model 286 but with Evolution line air handler model FE4ANF005. No automated damper capability, but the sales rep says I would still reap benefits of 2 stage and he could still put in manual dampers to reduce airflow to main level in the summer time. Option 5) $7900 Bryant 4-ton, 1-stage pump Model 265 mixed with Evolution air handler FE4ANF005 and Evolution control. SEER 15.

Greetings! I live in a new home in the Appomattox area of Virginia having taken up residence for one year. I have a Gibson heat pump and my furnace is located in my basement. I noticed periodically during November and December, a sweet "perfume" smell eminating from my heating vents. Again, it's rather spuradic, but a definite smell which is not isolated to any particular area or vent. I'm concerned - is this Freon leaking? I do change out my furnace filter on a scheduled basis - the one in my hallway - though I did notice that there is also a place for a furnace filter at the furnace itself, though no filter is in that slot - I was told I didn't need one. Do you have any idea what this smell is? It was not present during the summer when the air conditioning was running. Kindest regards, Gai Ferdon