Hi everyone, feedback would be much appreciated on our current HVAC situation. We live in Maryland - DC suburbs in a split level. House is about 2000 ft. total, but 1000 feet of that on the lower level is half underground. The evap coil on a 25 year old Ruud 2 ton blew up and so we are going to replace the AC and the 20 year old Carrier furnace while we're at it. Both units were more than adequate as far as heating and cooling the house so we're not looking to change size - we're comfortable with 80 for the AC while home and 60 for the heat while home. So far we have the following estimates:

1)Amana 13 SEER
Furnace: AMH80604B
AC: GSX130241
Coil/air handler: CAPF3030B6

or

2) Amana 14 Seer
Furnace: AMVC80604B
AC: ASX140241
Coil/air handler: CAPF3636B6


This company has sterling reviews and seemed very professional and easy to work with. These estimates include lineset and some minor issues with the junction box and water heater venting and repositioning the filter access. The write up was really clear and detailed.

Company 2: Bryant 13 Seer
furnace: 315AAV036070
AC: 113ANW024
coil/handler: CNPVP3017ATA

Also includes lineset and water heater venting. No mention of the electrical issues noted by 3 other companies as needing to be brought up to code, also no relocation of filter access. The rep for this company also showed up at 7:30 pm for a 1 pm appointment with no call, which worries me, in spite of pretty good reviews on the company. Recent reviews are spottier though, which is concerning

Company 3: Trane
Furnace: TUDIA080R924 (sorry if a letter is wrong -writing is tough to read)
AC: 4TTB3024
Coil: 4TXCA0243


This quote had a flush and leak check of the lines. A new lineset would be a little extra which I'm guessing would be a good thing to get done. This company also had excellent reviews (only 2 B's out of 200 A's on Angie's list) and a good word of mouth reputation.

We definitely preferred dealing with companies 1 and 3. Our concern is that we were warned off of Goodman and Amana seems to be the same thing as Goodman. Company 1 also priced the same Bryant option for us but it was much higher than Co. 2's quote which makes me skeptical again of Co. 2. The workmanship from Company 1 is supposed to be great (they've landed on multiple Best of lists) and the Amana warranty seems more comprehensive than the others, but again, we were warned against Goodman. Any thoughts on comparing apples to oranges here would be appreciated. The prices all seem to be about in line with each other. Co. 3 also said they could do a roughly equivalent Carrier system for about the same price as the Trane, Prices were all in the same ballpark w/ Co. 2 being the highest but (from what I can tell) for a nicer system. Not sure we need anything other than bare bones though.

Any advice on these systems? Is it worth it to ask for a detailed write up on a Carrier unit as well? Does it seem wise to ask for a new lineset since everything else will be new? Thanks in advance for any advice