New HVAC efficiency

If you want to see significant gains, insulation is your next step. My house is from the 40s also and has none

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insulation is your next step

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I'm planning on changing my central unit and when I finish that I'm blowing insulation in the attic. Lowe's has the blower and a days rental is free if you purchase 8 bags of insulation which is only about $200 worth.

Yup. All of the houses around here are from the 40s, 50s, and 60s. When it is cold outside, the floor is the same temperature and it gradually gets warmer as you go up in the temp strata

Raised house, no insulation under, none in the walls, none in the attic. I can leave for an entire day and not have the heat on. When I come back, the house is the exact same temp as outside. Woken up many times with the temp under 50 inside.

Landlord put a big arse unit in my attic last year because it ran 100% of the time

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Woken up many times with the temp under 50 inside

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I know the feeling all too well. My toes felt frostbitten after stepping on the bathroom tile in the morning.

The payback time between the 14 and 16 is minimal so at that point if you looking at a significant difference in the upfront price in the 14 and 16 then go with the 14. As for manufacturers, the Carrier, Trane, American Standard, Ruud/Rheem debate will boil down to preference and anecdotal testimony. Kind of like walking into a bar and asking: "what's the best pick up truck?" My preference and what I have in my house is Rheem. Everyday however, on the plans I look through for commercial applications, the engineers are spec-ing more and more Trane. From a service standpoint we do tend to pay fewer visits to their equipment. However, when they break down their parts are proprietary and more expensive.
If you are interested in bang for your buck or "contractor grade" look into the Goodman products. They revamped their product line about 3 years ago threw out the Bristol compressors and added Copelands as well as lost the Emerson evap and condenser motors and the stuff runs like a champ.

I just upgraded mine a few weeks ago. The old unit was 92% efficency Furnace with a 10 SEER Condesor. New unit is 92% efficiency furnace / 14 SEER condesor.

I ran the numbers on cost vs savings to go to a 16SEER and it took 10+ years to break even.

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I'm planning on changing my central unit and when I finish that I'm blowing insulation in the attic. Lowe's has the blower and a days rental is free if you purchase 8 bags of insulation which is only about $200 worth.

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Honestly, you are going about that backwards. If your technician properly sizes your a/c now, it will be oversized when you insulate and seal. This could cause moisture problems throughout the system.

The better thing to do is insulate and seal first, then hire a good HVAC technician. A shitty one will try to sell you on a bigger system (higher cost). Sure it will get your house cold faster, but it will also start and stop the motor more often. Starts are by far the most inefficient part of running an electric motor. Also, starting and stopping = wear.

I thought abt doing the foam spray underneath, but haven't pulled the trigger yet. I have regular blown in fiberglass in the attic and nothing that I know of in the walls. Windows are all single pane wood too.

When I do the spray insulation underneath I will probably be replacing the ac/heater too. But I also light be ready to move so may say F it.

I've been running rental properties a long time and I know what works long-term (and the tenants love).

A well-installed central system will use far less power than window units.

The most important part of an AC unit is the compressor. It is the heart of the system. A high-dollar unit with a cheap compressor is a crappy unit.

DO NOT GET ANYTHING WITH A BRISTOL BRAND COMPRESSOR!!!

Copeland scroll compressors are the way to go, especially when in a Ruud/Rheem unit.

If you have access to natural gas, go with gas and stay away from heat pumps for a plethora of reasons too numerous to list here (but I will list them if you want)

Avoid multi-speed compressors and other features...more parts, more things to go wrong.

Go with the lowest SEER available, or one step up from the lowest...they're ALL good these days.

When you have a new unit installed, have the following included:
-High pressure safety with manual reset button
-Low pressure safety with manual reset button
-Sight glass on suction side.
(the safeties can be installed on already operating units. Everyone should have them...will double the life of your unit)

If installing new ductwork, oversize the hell out of the main trunk line and go one size higher than minimum on distribution taps/runs. Makes a HELL of a difference with minimal cost increase.

Install an emergency drain pan condensate overflow safety switch/sensor. The best $25 bucks you'll ever spend