I had the first of 3 HVAC companies come in to give me an estimate on replacing my 20 year old furnace (which still works) with a high efficiency unit. As i live in upstate new york the central AC only gets used a few weeks a year so efficiency is not that important, and i did not plan on replacing it until it breaks. The sales person (who was somewhat pushy) told me a number of things that I would like to verify.

1. Told me that i definitely should replace AC unit at same time because the AC inside unit (evaporator i think it is called) is old and might leak and since it sits above the furnace it could damage the new furnace?

2. Told me that I needed to also replace the outside AC unit, because the new inside unit will only work with the new Freon (14?) and my outside unit uses Freon (22?) which can no longer be sold as of next year. Is this correct?

3. Told me that they would include some sort of high efficiency filter begins with an M that is a cartridge that gets replaced once a year. At first he said this was a $450 item that they were throwing in, but then told me the cartridges cost about $80. Any thoughts on these? We don't have allergies

4. They are also throwing in a new programmable thermostat, our power company gives a $25 rebate on this and supposedly the thermostat costs less than that so they give you one. Does this make sense?