OK, let me defend myself (and thank you, your advice is good and I seriously
am learning more on these ng's than from all FIVE quotes I had, and I've
went with at least 3 very reputable long-time companies in the city)

1 - Cross posting is supposed to be poor etiquette. I came to this group
because I was told to by the HVAC group right off the bat not a place a
homeowner post asking questions to that group. So I posted to this group,
where that person told me to go.
However, someone was nice enough to reply on the HVAC group and told me
without seeing the job he just couldn't answer some of the questions. Fair
enough. So, I thought I could try and give details here, but without seeing
the job, I was just likely filling just up space on the ng with useless info
that wouldn't be helpful and also wasn't sure what sort of audience is on
this group. I honestly thought this might be just a bunch of other
homeowners with lots of personal war stories and not professionals who could
help me. Who knew? I misjudged. So I made my question here short and
simple.

2- We live between near Rochester NY. We have long, snowy winters and the
average humidity all year long is above 50-60%. Average low temps in Jan is
in the mid teens, Average high temps in July-Aug is in the high 70's to low
80's. Average morning humidity in the summer is around 88%.
The heat and humidity is a real health problem for my child who has a
serious medical condition and ends up in the hospital because of this
problem frequently.

3- I need to have this job done quickly. I've been getting quotes for a
couple weeks. I've check the Better Business Bureau site for any info on
these guys (all are in good standing), no one I ask seems to know anyone in
the HVAC business...everyone I know used the big businesses for their HVAC
and those are two for the quotes I got; all I can do is take the references
of the independent guys (and are they going to give me bad ones?).

4- They all told me the furnace I have to way too big, and they are all
downsizing me more appropriately. The only difference is in sizes is the
last quote we had from the Carrier fellow who wants to go with a bigger AC
(3 ton 10 SEER and the others all are saying a 2.5 ton 12 SEER).
And for that person who asked, the Carrier furnace booklet says variable
speed, nothing about 2 speed.

5- I am the type of person who usually researches everything to death before
I do something. I just can't with this. That's why I'm turning to the
generosity and helpfulness of you good folks in hopes I can get some
guidance here. As I said, I need to make a fast decision on this and I just
don't have time to research it. Without any feedback, I'm just going to
have to pick one anyway, so there's no harm in asking for a few opinions,
right?

I do appreciate your help and advice.

WhyKnot

Please send me your email address with spaces around the "dot" and @
sign. normal email addresses are partly blanked for some reason. I
will send you some articles by return email explaining much that you
should know. If you want a high efficiency filter for your child, the
VS will help overcome the high resistance / high efficiency filter.
These articles are several pages long with pictures, too big to post
here.

Stretch
Kevin O'Neillsixfoot7 @ Sccoast . net
President
O'Neill-Bagwell Cooling & Heating
Myrtle Beach, SC
843-385-2220

I sent you my address.
please let me know (post here) if you didn't receive
-thanks

"stretch" wrote in message
oups.com...
WhyKnot

Please send me your email address with spaces around the "dot" and @
sign. normal email addresses are partly blanked for some reason. I
will send you some articles by return email explaining much that you
should know. If you want a high efficiency filter for your child, the
VS will help overcome the high resistance / high efficiency filter.
These articles are several pages long with pictures, too big to post
here.

Stretch
Kevin O'Neillsixfoot7 @ Sccoast . net
President
O'Neill-Bagwell Cooling & Heating
Myrtle Beach, SC
843-385-2220

My old 1987 ARI Tech book "Summer Outdoor Design Conditions for the
Rochester NY area" is:
2½% Design Dry Bulb is 88-F Coincident Design Wet Bulb 71-F | 85 and 71 is
around 50% Relative Humidity
Therefore, design conditions appear to be less than 50% RH.

First, do everything you can to reduce air infiltration and increase
insulation.
It should NOT take much cooling capacity to handle that latent and sensible
heat load!
For higher SEER efficiencies and low humidity control you need long run-time
cycles!

Do NOT oversize your A/C system!
Make sure they get an optimal heat-=load on the evaporator coil during
normal room temperature settings!
udarrell
--
The Air Side of Air Conditioning -
What BTUH, EER, and SEER is your Air Conditioner delivering? (Optimize
it!)
http://www.udarrell.com/air-conditio...city-seer.html
=======================================
"WhyKnot" wrote in message
...
OK, let me defend myself (and thank you, your advice is good and I
seriously
am learning more on these NG's than from all FIVE quotes I had, and I've
went with at least 3 very reputable long-time companies in the city)
(Clipped)
2- We live between near Rochester NY. We have long, snowy winters and
the
average humidity all year long is above 50-60%. Average low temps in Jan
is
in the mid teens, Average high temps in July-Aug is in the high 70's to
low
80's. Average morning humidity in the summer is around 88%.
The heat and humidity is a real health problem for my child who has a
serious medical condition and ends up in the hospital because of this
problem frequently.

3- I need to have this job done quickly. I've been getting quotes for a
couple weeks. I've check the Better Business Bureau site for any info on
these guys (all are in good standing), no one I ask seems to know anyone
in
the HVAC business...everyone I know used the big businesses for their HVAC
and those are two for the quotes I got; all I can do is take the
references
of the independent guys (and are they going to give me bad ones?).

4- They all told me the furnace I have to way too big, and they are all
downsizing me more appropriately. The only difference is in sizes is the
last quote we had from the Carrier fellow who wants to go with a bigger AC
(3 ton 10 SEER and the others all are saying a 2.5 ton 12 SEER).
And for that person who asked, the Carrier furnace booklet says variable
speed, nothing about 2 speed.

5- I am the type of person who usually researches everything to death
before
I do something. I just can't with this. That's why I'm turning to the
generosity and helpfulness of you good folks in hopes I can get some
guidance here. As I said, I need to make a fast decision on this and I
just
don't have time to research it. Without any feedback, I'm just going to
have to pick one anyway, so there's no harm in asking for a few opinions,
right?
I do appreciate your help and advice.

WhyKnot

I agree with udarrell .

BTW, why were you told you need new furnace and A/C & who told you
that?

Someone who is on commission? How old is your old stuff & what brand?
Maybe the equipment is not the problem.

Please let us know what you finally decide to do. Good Luck.

Stretch

approx 30 year old furnace, no AC now (which is what we want)

OK, I'm convinced, after hearing all the guys who have given us quotes bad
mouth each others' brand names they're selling that I shouldn't worry so
much about the Rheem vs. Carrier issue.
So now I'm torn between the idea of an 80% variable speed and a plain old
80% or 90% standard furnace, which will save a bundle of money. We have a
40+ yr old house, old ducts to match and additions to the place and this
will be the first time we've had AC in here. The standard old furnace seems
like it would be just fine, but not sure with AC that is true.

Maybe I'll just move and settle the dilemma


"stretch" wrote in message
oups.com...
WhyKnot

I agree with udarrell .

BTW, why were you told you need new furnace and A/C & who told you
that?

Someone who is on commission? How old is your old stuff & what brand?
Maybe the equipment is not the problem.

Please let us know what you finally decide to do. Good Luck.

Stretch

Since heat is a big bill in your area go 94% . A 94.4% is 18% more
efficient than 80% and that is considerable. 80% units belong in
Florida. VS is nice but not as important as efficiency in heating or
Seer in AC. You say you will use AC alot, so forget 10 seer 10 will be
outlawed soon anyway and belong in Canada. 12 is ok, better 14 but
savings do not increase in a linear fashion as seer increases. Get a
chart on Seer comparisons. Trane has one in their literature online or
at Home Depot. Forget Goodman, bottom of the barrel, and get a good
instaler that does a written load calculation for you. VS is nice but if
you can`t afford it so what the main equipment is what is important.
Don`t oversize AC or it will not dehumidify. If insulation or new
efficient windows are planned within a few years be sure to use the
anticipated R value increases, I did not and oversized everything and
now I need 2 dehumidifiers in summer as AC is to big. And furnace heats
fast and short cycles, Plus smaller is cheaper.