If you can get a free connection to gas then that should be your fuel for heating. In most parts of the country it is cheaper to heat with gas than a heat pump. If you are curious post your electric and gas rates and we can do some comparisons on heating costs.

The first quote does not make sense. If you are going with a gas furnace, then you should not need a new electrical panel. But you will need to run a 120v 15amp line to the attic, but it should not cost $1565. The gas furnace takes the place of the air handler. A gas furnace costs about the same as the equivalent model air handler. But you will have to run a gas line to the attic. So I don't understand why you need to pay an additional $2500 for the gas option.

The Bryant quote has incomplete model numbers. The complete number would indicate the size. You also have no model number for the coil, or what filter will be provided.

The Rheem quote seems more reasonable. It is difficult to judge how much of the quote is going towards installing duct work. Is the duct work insulated and if so how much insulation. Flexible duct work should be R6 or R8 rated unless your attic is insulated. Any change the equipment and duct work could be installed in the basement? It would be much better than installing in the attic.

The sizes in the Rheem quote seem reasonable. It would be best if a load calculation were performed to confirm the sizes since you have no history other than radiant heating.

I am glad to see that the Rheem contractor is proposing a 96% efficiency furnace for the attic. Do you go below freezing in the winter? If so heat tape will need to be installed so the condensate does not freeze.

The Rheem quote needs the coil model and filter. I suggest getting a 4 inch media filter.

thanks for the response! I apologize, should have been more clear. The first quote was an electric setup, while the second quote was a gas setup. I was informed by the first quoting contractor that the quote would basically go up 2500 bucks if we changed it to the equivalent in gas. Sounds like I should avoid him based on that alone

We rarely go below freezing in Portland OR. Maybe once a year it will even get cold enough to snow and usually its gone once it hits the ground. if it gets down to 32 degrees F its a rarity at best.

electric rate - at avg. 55kwh/day and average per day cost of 6.24, that puts my per kwh cost at $0.11203

Gas rate - looking onlne it looks like my rate would be $0.93513 per therm

I will ask the Rheem quoter for model on coil and filter

coil is a RCF2417STAMCA (hopefully I caught that right on the phone) and the filter is a box filter, close to access point, a 16x20 filter, F100 was the model.

The system size offered was based on a load calc by the salesman as well

thanks tigerdunes, ya thats what I am thinking. Plus right now the entire heating system is electric with that stupid sandwich ceiling radiant heat, so if anything I would expect the electric issue to be a net zero issue at worst as all of that usage will no longer exist and will instead be shifted to a gas unit.

The most important part of the project is missing. Who did the load calculations and air distribution design so you could get apples to apples cost comparisons? Square footage is only a very small part of everything that needs done before gathering quotes.

hvac consulting - the providers did the load calc based on info we gave to him. I also did a load calc using some online sources, though I am not sold I was right lol

Here are some cost comparisons for providing 100K BTUs of heat using the numbers you provided:

gas furnace 96% efficiency @ $0.94/therm - $0.97

heat pump 2.5 COP @ $0.11/KWh - $1.29

heat pump 3.0 COP @ $0.11/KWh - $1.08

The gas furnace is almost always going to be cheaper to operate at these rates. Plus if you bring in a gas line, you can eventually use it for the hot water heater, dryer, and stove when it comes time to replace them. This will be additional cost savings. I suggest adding the gas piping to make it easy to connect those appliances in the future.

2 ton seems small for 2700 sf. Here in the SW we do 1 ton per 400 sf.