Hi Guys. I have been getting some pretty high quotes for furnace/heat pump systems. I live in sarnia, ontario (canada) which borders port huron, michigan. we currently pay approx 10.8cents/kw and from the numbers i have crunched, even at 30deg, the heat pump should be about 25% less costly to run than a 95% efficient furnace.

within the next year we will have "smart meters" installed. these will charge different rates depending on time of day(night) electricity is used. this will bring the cost of electricity down to about 7.5c/kw during OFFPEAK times and about 15c/kw during peak times. Is it possible to put a timer on a heatpump so it would only opperate during the cheap times? is there a thermostat that can do this programing?

But here is my real question. can someone spec an AMANA system using the ARI webpage? i can't seem to make heads or tails of it. i am able to get rebates if the seer is over 15, and the ari certificate is required to apply for it.

I have done a heat load calculation and know that their 69K dual stage ecm is perfect for heating load and i get about 26K btu cooling. that is why i would like to go with the amana 16 or 18 seer, since they use dual stage compressors i can get some useable heat with 2nd stage and not oversize the cooling since the 1st stage is close to bang on.

so i guess the question is, what coil gives me the best match? I have found a few places where i can order over the phone to avoid voiding warranties. I have a friend who has a friend who teaches HVAC principles at the local college and plan to help him install it.

thanks for any help you can give.