Where do you live? How many months of the year do you need HVAC? And are utility bills high? In some areas, clawing every bit of heat out of the air makes sense. In others, the ROI is longer than the life of the equipment.

Would adding insulating, weather stripping and maybe storm windows be a better use of the money?

I got quotes on a gas furnace/AC combo and even if the high efficiency ones cut our energy costs in half for the heating/cooling seasons, the payback was 20-40 years. We have a short season where AC is needed, and several months on either side of that where nothing at all is needed.

A variable speed air handler might be useful ... running low to keep temps constant and running high when you need to make a bigger change.

Thanks lazy gardens
We live in PA, the electric where we live is not terribly high. We spent $2500.00 in oil last yr so I can't imagine a heat pump being more. Our oil burner is original to our 1968 home and we refuse to replace with oil. Gas is not available.

What is your cost of oil/gal and cost of electric/KWH? I will run a fuel cost comparison and give you the results.

You have a ductwork system in place and have AC?

Electric service will need to be checked for capacity. It is preferred to place condenser, air handler, and backup heat strips on separate circuits.

How large is home? How is home's insulation qualities?

Here is my general spec sheet for new system.
both outside and inside units should be replaced to have a properly matched system.

15 SEER, 12.5+ EER, 9 HSPF
best matching VS air handler
full BTUs in both cooling and heating for your rated size
R-410a refrigerant(same as Puron)
scroll compressor preferred
electronic demand defrost preferred
thermostat with "dehumidify on demand" feature
staged backup heat strips
new and correctly sized refrigerant lineset
10 yr warranty on parts and compressor

you want a thorough inspection of your ductwork system. size, overall condition, supply and return lines, insulation qualities, leak test, etc.

any hot/cold spot issues in your home should be addressed.

My personal recommendation is Trane/AmStd, Rudd/Rheem, and Carrier/Bryant.

Because of your location, I would not purchase a new system that did not have electronic demand defrost.

IMO

This post was edited by tigerdunes on Mon, May 20, 13 at 6:36

Thanks Tigerdunes
We are definitely going with a heat pump just wondering if the extra cost of higher seer, dual stage and variable speed air handler is worth it. We just don't want to deal with oil any more. We have central air but the duct work is from 1989. Do you think it should be replaced to maximize our savings? We have ample space in our electric panel, it was checked. Our home is about 1700 sq ft. With average insulation.

Again, what is cost of oil and cost of electricity?

Do you have ductwork system in place already? If you have AC already, what size do you have?

See my spec sheet. You don't necessarily need two stage heat pump but it should be 15 SEER minimum with a var speed air handler. I would go no lower of a new system that had minimum 9 HSPF and with electronic demand defrost.

Post back.

IMO

The cost of oil is $3.86 a gallon, our electric rate is $.0659 per kwh. We have ductwork but it is from 1989, the ac unit we have now is 2 1/2 ton.
Thanks for the info

You should get a load calc performed for correct sizing.

How is your home's insulation properties?

Here is the fuel comparison calculator's results.
Used 82% eff for oil, 3 COP for Heat pump.

Cost per 100,000 btu of useable heat
Electric baseboard: $1.74
Heat pump: $0.64
Oil: $3.41

You have very cheap electric rate. Suggest you recheck and make certain your rate includes all related delivery costs to your home.

Even straight electric resistance heat is about 1/2 the cost of oil heat on a BTU basis.

One caveot though, the calculator results should be used as a guide only. With that said, you should see a very nice payback over oil over a short period of time.

Stay to my spec suggestions. I personally would consider a two stage three ton system.

IMO