Similar to Mitsu, i also went with Elite over the Merit series mostly for the noise and slightly better warranty. Really happy with it, although i'm sure i would have been happy with the Merit series too considering how far away it sits from my backyard sitting area. If you think noise will be a problem then spend the extra 900 but if it's really far away from where you hang out in your back yard then you're probably OK with the cheaper one IMO.