Does the furnace really need replacing yet?
Usually there is no need to decide in a hurry. A furnace that has stopped working most often needs a repair, not a replacement, and a furnace repair visit will tell you which. Replacement starts to make sense when the same parts keep failing, when some rooms never warm up no matter what is adjusted, or when a major part such as the heat exchanger fails on an older unit.
If you are unsure, it is fine to keep a working furnace running while you think it over. Our guide on what usually goes wrong with a furnace explains which repairs are small and which ones change the decision.
What if a cracked heat exchanger has been found?
This is the one finding that should not wait. A crack can let combustion gases, including carbon monoxide, mix with the air the furnace sends through the house. The technician will turn the furnace off, show you what was found, and talk through how to keep warm safely until a replacement is in.
It is also a good moment to check your carbon monoxide alarms. The Ontario Fire Code requires a working alarm next to each sleeping area in a home with a fuel-burning appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage. If an alarm sounds, take everyone outside first and call emergency services from there.
How is the right size of furnace worked out?
A furnace that is too large heats the house in short bursts, wears faster and leaves cold corners. One that is too small runs without a break on the coldest nights. The right size comes from the house itself: its floor area, its windows, its insulation and the ducts the warm air has to travel through, rather than the number printed on the old unit.
Bethany's older homes make this matter. The 1870s to 1890s houses on Glengarry Road and Davis Street were built for wood or coal stoves, and the ducts added later are often squeezed into tight spaces, so some rooms never get their share of heat. The 1910s and 1920s buildings on Highway 7A often still carry converted equipment much larger than the building needs. In both cases a change to the ducts can do as much for comfort as the furnace you choose, and the technician will tell you if that is the case.
What happens to the old chimney and the venting?
A high-efficiency condensing furnace vents through plastic pipe out the side wall, so the furnace no longer uses the brick chimney. In the older houses on Glengarry Road this often means the chimney needs a liner or a new vent, especially if a gas water heater would be left using it alone. On Highway 7A the chimney may be left with no appliance at all, and old pipe or duct wrap from the coal years may contain asbestos. That wrap is left alone until it has been tested, and the plan is worked out around it.
Some Highway 7A buildings are designated heritage properties under the Ontario Heritage Act. If yours is one, a new side-wall vent or chimney work may need to be checked with the municipality first, and that is easier to sort out before an installation date is set.
Snow also decides where new vents go. At Peterborough A, the nearest Environment Canada climate station, the 1981-2010 normals record 151.2 cm of snow a year, with January the snowiest month at 40.0 cm and snow depths reaching 71 cm. In Woodland Hills and other newer homes, vents are placed above where drifts settle and away from where snow gets piled when the driveway is cleared.
Is a furnace still the right choice, or would a heat pump suit better?
For many Bethany homes a high-efficiency furnace remains a sensible choice, but it is not the only one. A cold-climate heat pump can carry most of the heating, with a furnace kept as backup for the deepest cold. If your home runs on propane rather than natural gas, the furnace and venting are chosen to suit that fuel.
Rebate programs change from year to year, so they are checked at the time of the quote rather than promised. The guide on heat pumps, high-efficiency furnaces or both sets out the trade-offs in plain terms.
How does an installation day go?
Before anything is booked, you get a written price for the furnace, the venting and any chimney or duct work, and you approve it before any part is fitted. On the day, the old furnace is disconnected and taken out, the new one is set in place and connected to the gas line, the ducts and the venting, and the condensate drain is run to a suitable outlet.
Work is performed by TSSA-certified gas technicians, and the furnace is installed to the CSA B149.1 Natural Gas and Propane Installation Code, adopted in Ontario under Ontario Regulation 212/01. The last step is starting the furnace, watching it run through a full cycle and showing you the filter, the switch and the vents outside.
Manufacturers usually ask for registration and yearly maintenance to keep their warranty valid, so keep the paperwork and consider regular maintenance. When you are ready, ask for a quote and tell us a little about the house.