When it comes to finding Trades, I'm as meticulous as it gets. I inquired with 16 companies about the job and the details + quotes I received were all over the spectrum. I was becoming a little more weary as I learned of installation challenges, inspection costs, adding this and that, etc. However, Better Home Design really stood out for me as Walter Rodriguez, the owner, maintained great patience and tact in explaining things to me. He even took time out of his weekend to answer my questions and called me to reassure me of things. Walter was very tactful, didn't try to sell me on anything I didn't need, and had a very honest demeanor. With that, I went with his company and am quite pleased with the installation process and end result.
In regards to the Furnace + Air Conditioning equipment, it all is the same stuff no matter what brand you go with. I'm surprised at how much negative reviews there are out there when researching this, but with these types of things you are bound to run into a faulty unit. It all comes down to having the right company installing and backing up what they've done. Finally, I did opt to go with the Napoleon brand just because they are a local Canadian company, which gives me a bit of peace of mind and pride to support them in these tough economic times.