We were all set to have someone start early next week with the install. He'd given us a quote. It was on-par with what we'd been told to expect. It was on-par with casual (though not official) quotes we'd gotten from other professionals. We were set to go.
And then I called our handyman to ask him if he could patch the ceiling where the whole house fan currently resides after it's all done and over with. He thought the quote we'd been given was outrageous. He, unfortunately, doesn't do full installs, only changeouts. So he had a buddy of his that does full installs give me a call. He, too, thought it was ridiculous, even after I tried to explain some of the oddities of the house that might have been contributing to the cost.
Furthermore, he said a heat pump was a bad idea as a primary source of heat for the house. We don't have any insulation (literally) and lose heat all over the place. Furthermore, if it's blowing from the top down, we'll lose a good portion of it through the roof in the attic. So that's no good.
Seth called back guy number 1, explained our concerns and explained that we were holding off until we could get another quote or three and he got very agitated. He didn't really care for us second-guessing his professional judgment. He is confident that when another company comes in and understands the construction of the house, they will come up with a similar number (Personally, I tend to agree, but better to find out, right?) Furthermore, he says that the heat pump is exactly what we want and he listed some reasons why but Seth couldn't really follow them because guy number 1 was so agitated (and he has a strong accent), that he wasn't the easiest to understand.
So now I'm all confused. And I don't even know HOW to go about figuring out which guy is telling the whole truth. ARGH.
It's okay. It's really okay. I JUST WANT THIS FINISHED!