Hi Mike,

Since you currently have electric baseboard heat and therefore I take
it no existing ductwork, I would highly recommend a ductless heat pump
(a multi-zone model most likely). A ductless heat pump can be
installed very easily and without any disruption to your living space
-- no cutting of walls and floors, no loss of interior or closet
space, no re-drywalling, no repainting and no construction dust.

A high efficiency ductless heat pump can cut your space heating costs
by 70 per cent and your cooling costs in half. It will improve the
outward appearance and security of your home; i.e., no unsightly
window air conditioners that can leave you venerable to break-ins.
They're also incredibly quiet.

I've been speaking with someone in another newsgroup who lives in
Montréal, a city much colder than your own. He tells me that even at
-1F, his ductless heat pump can still heat his entire home and at half
the cost of resistance heat.

He has a Fujitsu model 24RL. You can obtain more information on this
product he

http://www.fujitsugeneral.com/PDF_06...6_brochure.pdf

I have oil-fired hot water baseboard heating and a year and a half ago
I installed a small Friedrich ductless heat pump (it's a rebranded
Fujitsu). It has cut my heating costs by more than half.

This is a picture of the inside air handler, which is located in my
living room:

http://server4.pictiger.com/img/2640.../heat-pump.php

You can view the Friedrich line he
http://www.friedrich.com/pdf/Ductles...s_Brochure.pdf

The Mitsubishi "Mr. Slim" is another popular choice and you can learn
more about their offerings he

http://www.mrslim.com/UploadedFiles/..._final_9-8.pdf

I had read BGE will be increasing their residential utility rates by a
whopping 72 per cent! With that in mind, I would recommend a heat
pump with a high SEER and HSPF rating -- preferably a SEER in the
range of 16 to 20 and a HSPF of at least 8.0 and, better yet, 9 or 10.
You'll pay a little more upfront, but a heat pump with a high HSPF
produces far more heat in sub-freezing weather and at a much lower
operating cost.

Cheers,
Paul

On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 16:29:44 GMT, "Mike" wrote:

Hi, I live in a 70 y/o EOG rowhouse with southern & western exposure located
in Baltimore, MD.
The house has electric baseboard heating and window air conditioners.
Utilities were recently deregulated
and I believe I need to install a more efficient heating unit. Might as
well install central air at the same time.

I understand there are new high efficiency units that can save a bundle in
utility costs but they need to installed by
a crew that's trained to install them otherwise the are less effcient than
the other systems.

Recommendations for HVAC companies are also needed.

Any recommendations for highly effcient replacement windows at a resonalble
cost?
(will chck consumers union website)

Thanks,

Mike