A Furnace Sized for a Kitchener Winter
The Building Code sizes heating systems in Kitchener to minus 19 degrees, and the city runs about 4,200 heating degree days a year. That is the winter your new furnace has to carry, which is why we start with a room-by-room heat loss calculation instead of matching the output of the furnace coming out.
Nearly half the houses here were built in 1980 or earlier, so what we find in the basement changes street by street: a century home off Victoria Park, a post-war bungalow in the St. Mary's blocks, a two-storey in Doon South with a finished basement. Each one loses heat differently, and each one has its own venting and ductwork story.
Kitchener puts it plainly on its own permit page: you need a building permit to change your HVAC heating system, and the application asks for heat loss and heat gain calculations.
What Your Furnace Installation Includes
Every furnace installation we quote in Kitchener covers the same scope, from the first measurement to the walkthrough.
- A room-by-room heat loss calculation, so the furnace is sized to your house and not to the old one.
- The permit paperwork the city asks for, and the final inspection arranged.
- Removal and disposal of the old furnace, with the space cleaned before the new one is set.
- Venting and combustion air run to the manufacturer's specification, with terminations placed clear of snow and recirculation.
- The gas connection made, manifold pressure set to the rating plate and every joint leak tested.
- The condensate line trapped, sloped and tested, with a pump where gravity will not do the work.
- Duct transitions rebuilt where they choke airflow, and a filter cabinet you can reach.
- The thermostat wired for your furnace's staging, then commissioning: temperature rise, static pressure, gas pressure and the safeties.
- A walkthrough before we leave, and the manufacturer warranty registered in your name.
A straight replacement is often finished in a single day. We tell you at quoting if your house is one of the exceptions, because a chimney liner or a duct correction adds time.
Which Furnace Suits Your Kitchener Home
Staging is the choice you feel on a minus 19 night, and it matters most in an older house with long duct runs and rooms that never match.
| Furnace type | How it runs | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Single stage | One fixed output, on or off. | A smaller, tighter house, or a rental where simple parts win. |
| Two stage | Runs on low for most of the winter and steps up in the cold. | Most Kitchener homes, including two-storeys with a cold room over the garage. |
| Variable speed | Modulates output and blower speed almost continuously. | Larger or open-plan houses, and anyone who notices swings and blower noise. |
Our furnace installation page covers the Lennox models we carry, and this guide compares single-stage, two-stage and variable speed in more detail.
The Team Behind Your Kitchener Install
We have been installing furnaces around this city for over 10 years, and our main office is on Bridge Street East, so the person who quotes your job is on the crew that fits it. We are an Authorized Lennox Dealer and a five-time HomeStars Best of Award winner, and Sina owns the company and still runs the tools.
Local heating and cooling is by far the best heating and cooling company in the Kitchener/Waterloo region. I needed a furnace and air condition installed in my new home and found them on Google. They were professional, punctual and offered competitive prices.
Memory AttentionGoogle reviewWhat Moves the Price of a Furnace Installation Here
We price the work after we have seen the house, so the number holds. Most of what moves it is already in your basement.
If you would rather spread the cost, our financing options sit on their own page.
| What we look at | Why it moves the price |
|---|---|
| The size the calculation asks for | Heat loss sets the output, and a right-sized furnace is not always the cheapest box on the shelf. |
| Staging and efficiency | A single stage furnace, a two stage and a modulating unit are three different prices for the same house. |
| Venting | A sidewall run in PVC is straightforward. Relining a chimney that is left serving only the water heater is not. |
| Ductwork and returns | Older Kitchener houses often run one undersized return, and correcting that during the swap protects the new equipment. |
| Gas line and meter | Kitchener Utilities keeps clearances around the meter, and a longer or larger gas line adds labour and material. |
| The permit | The city charges a flat residential fee and asks for a BCIN designer's Schedule 1 with the application. |
| Extras that ride along | A humidifier, a smart thermostat or a media filter cabinet costs less fitted during the install than on a second visit. |
How a Kitchener Furnace Installation Runs
Four steps every time, and you have the number and the date before anything is ordered.
You tell us what the house does
Call or send the form with the age of the furnace, the rooms that never warm up and where the unit sits.
We measure and calculate
Your technician runs the heat loss room by room, checks the ducts, the venting and the gas line, then puts the options in writing.
We handle the permit and the date
You pick the day that suits you, and the paperwork the city needs goes in before the truck is loaded.
We install and commission
Old furnace out, new furnace set, vented, connected and tested, then a walkthrough before we leave.
Kitchener neighbourhoods we install in
Our trucks start the day in this city, so the drive to your street is short whichever side of the Grand River you are on. Tell us the neighbourhood when you call and we will confirm the visit.
- Downtown Kitchener
- Victoria Park
- Central Frederick
- Civic Centre
- Cherry Hill
- Mount Hope
- Westmount
- Victoria Hills
- Forest Heights
- Laurentian Hills
- Country Hills
- Rockway
- Vanier
- Stanley Park
- Chicopee
- Idlewood
- Grand River
- Bridgeport
- Pioneer Park
- Doon
- Doon South
- Huron Park
- Williamsburg
- Rosemount
- Southridge
- Alpine Village
Also in Kitchener: air conditioner installation and heat pump installation, plus every service on our Kitchener HVAC HVAC page.