I am relacing 2 Carrier/Cobra heat pumps for my dual zone, 3,400 sf house near San Antonio, Texas. I have talked with three service/contactors, the opinions, recommendation and pricing are all over the board. From a cost/value perspective, I am settled in on a 14-15 SEER system. Also, the prevalent brands for my area are Trane, Rheem, Ruud, Carrier, Bryant. The Carrier/Cobra systems (3ton and 5ton) I have had for the past 12, have been excellent and the maintenance has been minimal, with annual maintenance check-ups.

So, now I need to make a prudent purchase decision based on my research of all the above systems and that I will probably sell my home in the next year or so, downsize, now that the kids are out of the house.

The Higher-end models sound really nice, lots of hightech features, dual compressors, variable speed handlers, on-board self diagnostics, 10-year warranties, etc. But, they come at huge premiums over their base system units. I am looking for a good, solid unit without a lot of bells and whistles, one that will perform as the current one has over the past 12 years. I am trying to get by all the marketing hype and high-end recommendations to a decision that makes good monetary sense.

I am interested in a few more "opinions/recommendations" before I decide to go with the recommendation I like the best... Carrier 14SEER, R410A Puron, base single compressor, heat pump with single speed air handlers (60k, 15KW strip and 36k, 10KW strip). All three companies ran a manual J balance requirement test, one of them suggested I only needed a 4ton Trane or Ruud, in place of the existing 5 ton unit.

I have to make a decision in the next week, any suggestions, recommendations.

Thanks for your time!!

I am no expert with heat pumps, they all look beige to me. Just to kill time I went out an googled heat pump reviews, and found this:

Heat Pump Reviews (http://www.furnacecompare.com/heat-pumps/reviews/)

Hope it helps without adding to your confusion. Like trying to pick out cereal at the supermarket with all the choices nowadays, except for a few thousand dollars.

You are doing some great work on your homework. There is another brand that is made by Trane and is very good equipment. I feel is better than carrier and has 2 stage condensing units as well to save on costs. They have a 14 seer heat pump and a 20 seer heat pump. Whatever you do I recommend replacing the outside condenser and the inside coil at the same time on the systems and move to the 410 refrigerant. The r22 refrigerant equipment is not going to be made after this year and the freon price for r22 will skyrocket next year making any service calls very high on r22 systems.

I have had great luck with carrier systems in the past but when I replace I will move to American standard. I have installed many of them and the equipment is very solid and well built.

I would also replace the 5 ton with another 5 ton. I have never heard of anyone having TOO much cooling but EVERYONE complains about NOT ENOUGH cooliing. In all my time doing HVAC I have never seen an instance where too much AC caused problems! Stay with the 5 ton unit!

All three companies ran a manual J balance requirement test, one of them suggested I only needed a 4ton Trane or Ruud, in place of the existing 5 ton unit.

If a manual J was done then go by the recommendation of 4 ton. To large of a unit is worse than to small of a unit and all a large unit does is waste energy and makes the home cold but clammy/to moist since the bigger A/C unit will shut off before all the moisture is removed to the correct level.

R-22 will be available till 2025 and later. The price will not be as bad as some suggest. If you do go with R-410A then I suggest you also replace the copper linesets on the units since the oil is different in R-410A and the old mineral oil left in the lines from the R-22 can and will cause a problem NO matter what you are told and it does not flush well to clean it out.

Everyone has there favorite brand but the brand name HAS nothing to do with how well it works or lasts. The most expensive unit can be turned to junk by a improper install and the cheapest will run forever if installed properly. Pick your dealer/installer carefully for a good long lasting job.

Make sure they use expansion valves. Most if not all new heat pumps have them but it never hurts to ask to be sure.

Also be extra careful who's advice you listen to. Many people think they are a professional when in actually they have very little useful knowledge to deliver.

Surf around for some professional HVAC sites for the best info.