Okay to decide if you a heat pump would be advantageous to you or not how many days do you have that you would use your heat. when the outside temperature is above or right around 32 degrees. Heat pump is believe 10-11 more efficient than electric heat which is around 100% efficient which means 100% btus(British thermal unit) it gets from energy it turn 100% in to heat. Heat pump transfers heat and uses 10-11 times less energy than just straight electric heat does. This is how an a/c works. the compressor pumps vapor refrigerant not liquid it the outdoor coil gets air blow across it and gets rid of the heat and cools the vapor to a liquid then the expansion valve changes the pressure to a lower pressure when it comes out of the expansion valve it is aprox 80% liq 20% vapor and alot lower temperature 40-50 degree range - air is blown across the coil and when the liquid evaporates transferring the most heat then continuing to gain heat till it comes out 100% vapor-- in the heat cycle a heat pump works in a very similar way but backwards- taking heat from out side and transferring in i am not much in to gas heat- not alot of days under 30 here also if he didnt mention anything about the federal tax credit i would defiantly ask that is 30% of the bill up $1,500.00 you can get credit towards on your taxes and that ends this year. still have to pay the contractor the full amount but when you file for taxes you can get a credit back(talk with your accountant on that at least thats what i tell homeowners just to make sure they do qualify some people dont) any questions about the equipment he bid you on or theory or personal/professional opinion give me a pm- also if you need more info about the 2 stage furnace and the benefit of it ask your contractor im sure he can fill you in- but if they work like 2 stage compressor- it will probaly work at 50-80% capacity for so long then if the temperature doesn't catch up after a certain time period it will ramp up to full capacity sorry if i sound rambled or bad grammar long day and about to heat the microeconomics book got a test that is 30% of the grad tomorrow