How We Size a Replacement Furnace
Most furnace quotes are written from the label on the old unit. That is how a house ends up with a furnace two sizes too large, which costs more to buy, runs in short bursts all winter, and still leaves the far bedroom cold. We measure the house instead. A technician measures every room, counts the windows, and checks how much air the duct work can move.
The furnace must then keep the house warm on the worst night the Building Code plans for here. We size it for that night and choose the model for the hundreds of ordinary nights either side of it, because those nights account for most of your running cost.
We show you that calculation with the quote. A size based on your rooms comes out below the old furnace about as often as above it, and a number copied from the old unit is not a calculation at all.
What Our Furnace Installation Includes
Every quote we write in this city covers the same eight items.
- A technician measures every room during the quote visit, so the size comes from your house rather than from the label on the old furnace.
- We take out the city permit and put its fee on your quote rather than on an invoice afterwards.
- We disconnect and remove the old furnace, cap the gas line, and carry the unit out of the house.
- We plan the new vent route first, because a high-efficiency furnace cannot share a brick chimney and needs its own opening through an exterior wall.
- We open the sheet metal above the furnace and correct anything that restricts the return air.
- We take the condensate to a proper drain, since a poorly run condensate line is what floods a finished basement.
- We check the electrical circuit against the new blower and bring the wiring up to what the equipment needs.
- We book the city inspection, put the warranty in your name, and run a full heating cycle while you watch.
Please tell us on the first call if a hot water tank or a boiler vents into the same chimney. The city puts boilers and hot water heating systems on the same permit list, so we would rather price the whole venting job once than come back and do it again.
Choosing Between One Speed, Two Speeds and Variable Output
A single-output furnace runs at full output on a mild November afternoon and then shuts off, which is how a hallway becomes warm while the back bedroom stays cold. A furnace with a lower setting runs for longer and more gently, which evens out the temperature across the house. Our furnace installation page lists the Lennox range we stock, and furnace repair is the better option when a single part has failed on a furnace with years left in it.
| How it runs | What you notice | Which homes it suits |
|---|---|---|
| A single output | The furnace runs at full output every time it lights, so a room warms quickly and then drifts below your setting. | A sound house with duct work that can carry the air, and a budget that decides the question. |
| A lower and a higher output | It spends most of the winter on the lower output and steps up only when the outside temperature falls. | Most of the homes we quote here, and the usual answer for an upstairs that never warms up. |
| An output that varies continuously | It steps its output up and down in small increments, which holds a room within a degree of the temperature you set. | Long, awkward duct runs, a converted attic, and anyone who can feel the temperature swing. |
The efficiency sticker on the carton matters less than most buyers think. What you feel in February comes from the vent route, the duct work, and the hour we spend commissioning the furnace.
The People Behind Your Furnace Quote
We have been installing gas heating in this region for more than 10 years, and this company has won the HomeStars Best of Award five times, which homeowners vote for. We are also an Authorized Lennox Dealer, so your equipment arrives with factory training and genuine parts behind it rather than whatever a wholesaler had in stock that week.
Sina owns the company, and he is still the technician who arrives on most driveways. The person who measures your basement is therefore the person who starts your furnace at the end of install day. The vent route and the air the old duct work can carry are both judgement calls, and one person answering for both is more likely to get them right.
Very friendly and professional. Needed a gas valve replaced on my furnace. Gave me a fair quote and did exactly the work we agreed for the price agreed. Will be my first choice for any needed work in the future.
Peter PorzuczekGoogle reviewWhat Sets the Price of Your Installation
Most of a furnace quote is the work around the furnace rather than the furnace itself. We would rather show you each line than hand you one figure at the door and leave you guessing what you are paying for.
If you would rather spread the cost, our financing page sets out the options.
| What we find on the visit | Why that changes the price |
|---|---|
| The size your house actually needs | It usually comes out below the output of the old furnace, and a smaller unit costs less to buy as well as less to run. |
| How finely the furnace can adjust its output | A single output, two outputs, or an output that adjusts as it runs are three different prices in the same basement. |
| The chimney | Brick cannot carry the exhaust from a high-efficiency furnace, so we run a new vent out through an exterior wall. On a narrow lot with no room down the side, that run becomes long. |
| The sheet metal above the furnace | When the existing metal restricts the return air, we cut and rebuild it on install day. That is hours of labour, and leaving it alone wastes the furnace you have just bought. |
| The gas supply and the electrical breaker | When both have capacity to spare, this stays a small line on your quote. A long new gas run, or a panel that is already full, adds to it. |
| The permit | We take it out, and its fee appears on your quote. The city's rate only rises past $30,000 of work, which no house furnace reaches. |
| Anything you add while the furnace is out | A humidifier, a smart thermostat or a filter cabinet costs very little while the furnace is out, and a good deal more as its own appointment. |
The Four Steps From Your Call to Install Day
We order no equipment until you have approved the written price and picked the installation date.
Tell us what this winter has been like
Call us or complete the form. Please have the age of the furnace ready, the rooms that lose heat first, and anything else that vents into the chimney.
We measure, and we deal with the city
A technician walks the house, measures every room, follows the duct work and chooses the vent route. We then file the permit application with the city ourselves.
Your quote arrives in writing
Your quote lists the equipment, the output the house needs, the vent route, any sheet metal we have to cut, and the permit fee on a line of its own.
We install the furnace and test it with you
We take the old furnace out, fit the new one with its own vent, and turn the gas and the power back on. We then run a full heating cycle while you watch, and we put the warranty in your name.
The Woodstock streets and districts we cover
Much of the work on an older street is knowing what sits behind the plaster before we arrive. A Victorian near Vansittart Avenue has a different heating system from a row house off Devonshire Avenue, and we have worked on both. Tell us your street when you call.
- Downtown Woodstock
- Vansittart Avenue
- Southside
- Sally Creek
- Havelock Corners
- North Woodstock
- Northeast Woodstock
- East Woodstock
- Park Row
- Southside Park
- Springbank Avenue
- Parkinson Road
- Norwich Avenue
- Juliana Drive
- Devonshire Avenue
- Athlone Avenue
- Finkle Street
- Mill Street
- Montclair Drive
- Highland Drive
We also install and service these systems in Woodstock: air conditioner installation and cold climate heat pump installation. Our Woodstock HVAC page lists everything else we do here.
