Do mini splits and hire a professional who has extensive experience with these systems. They're going to be making holes in your house—you want someone who's done it dozens of times. And you need someone who understands the most efficient way to heat and cool your home. Do it once, do it right, and it'll be cheaper in the long run.

I don't know what your home is like but 16k seems like a reasonable price if you have, say, one condenser and 4-5 heads. I second the advice to take out a CT heat loan. Less than 1% interest and you will almost certainly spend less on the loan than you would on the existing utility bills. Also, there are lots of rebates and credits this year. We are getting about 18% of the cost back to us.

Finally, get two additional quotes. We got one quote that was 20k higher than the others, and the company did a whole song and dance about how they have a whole TEAM of professionals and they clean up at the end of the day blah blah blah. I'm confident that they would have done good work but I don't need to pay a 20k premium to cover their costs and have the work be done in four days instead of six, you know?

I'm curious—do you think there should be a stop sign at the intersection where the accident happened? I'm surprised that there isn't one, given the proximity to the school.