Furnace Replacement in Smithville, ON — The Venting, the Sizing and the 95% Rule

You have already decided the furnace is going. A new gas furnace in Canada has to be at least 95 percent efficient, and a furnace that efficient cannot vent up your old chimney. That one rule is behind most of what surprises people about a furnace replacement in Smithville. It means new venting, a liner your water heater may now need, and a size worked out from the house rather than copied off the furnace coming out.

A New Gas Furnace in Canada Must Be at Least 95% Efficient

Canada set the floor for a new residential gas furnace at 95 percent AFUE, and it has been there since December 2019. (1) AFUE is the share of the fuel the furnace turns into heat across a season.

• A standard residential gas furnace: at least 95 percent, for units manufactured on or after 3 July 2019. (1)
• A through-the-wall furnace with cooling built in: at least 90 percent, from 1 January 2024. (1)
• A replacement furnace for a manufactured home: at least 80 percent. (1)

The gain is easier to read in fuel than in percentages. A new furnace at 95 percent uses 38 percent less fuel than an old one running at 60 percent. (2)

The older 90 percent figure still appears on Ontario websites, because 90 was the floor before 2019. If it turns up in a quote for a standard replacement, it is out of date rather than a bargain.

Why a 95% Furnace Cannot Use Your Old Chimney

A 95 percent furnace pulls so much heat out of its own exhaust that what leaves the burner is no longer hot enough to rise up a chimney. It vents instead through approved plastic pipe out a side wall, and the water that condenses out of the exhaust runs to a floor drain or a condensate pump. (2)

That matters because of what else is on the chimney. Many older furnaces and water heaters vent into one common chimney. (2) Take the furnace off it and the water heater is left venting alone into a flue that was sized for two appliances, where the exhaust now moves more slowly and cools on the way up.

Natural Resources Canada’s answer is a liner. A licensed professional may need to install an approved metal liner, either a double-walled B-vent or a single-walled stainless steel ULC-listed liner. (2) A narrower flue moves the gases up faster with less chance of cooling, and the metal warms through sooner than masonry does. (2)

All of that is worth paying for because of what the exhaust does to the chimney. Condensing water vapour seriously damages masonry, and an outdoor chimney makes it worse, because it runs much colder through the heating season than an indoor one. (2)

There is a second way around it. The same guide says replacing the furnace and the water heater together, with equipment that needs no chimney at all, may be the better alternative. (2)

Sizing the New Furnace to Your House, Not to the One Coming Out

The size of the new furnace comes from a heat loss calculation done to CSA standard F280. (2) That method measures the house itself: its size, how well it is insulated, and how much air leaks through the walls and windows. (2)

Natural Resources Canada is blunt about the shortcuts. A calculation based only on the floor area of the home, or on fitting a furnace of equivalent size to the one being removed, is not adequate in most cases. (2)

Ask to see it. NRCan tells homeowners to ask the contractor for the calculation results, a summary of the general design assumptions, and a statement of the method used. (2) Anyone who has actually done the calculation will have it to hand.

Oversizing has a symptom you can feel. An oversized furnace sends short bursts of hot air. It makes more heat than the house is losing, reaches the thermostat setting quickly and shuts down again, so the rooms swing between warm and cool instead of settling. (2)

What Changes the Cost of a Furnace Replacement in Smithville

A quote on a furnace replacement is covering more than the furnace.

The federal checklist for having a natural gas heating system installed doubles as the cost list: (2)

• alteration or improvement of the existing heat distribution ducts (2)
• all necessary permits, and payment of the related fees (2)
• on-site inspections by the utility (2)
• removal of any existing equipment that will not be used with the new system (2)

Add the venting decision to that list. The liner is what most often separates two quotes on the same house, because one contractor has priced it and the other has not.

Enbridge Gas tells homeowners to get at least three written estimates from different contractors, each setting out the work to be done and the total price. (3) Read what each estimate itemises next to its total, because two quotes on one house can be covering different work.

The Rebate on a Furnace Replacement, Answered Honestly

There is no rebate for a like-for-like gas furnace replacement. Ontario’s Home Renovation Savings program lists cold climate air source heat pumps and three ground source types as its eligible equipment, and a gas furnace appears nowhere on it. (4)

The condition is easier to understand in reverse. A household qualifies by having an active Enbridge Gas account and heating mainly with a natural gas furnace or boiler. What it qualifies to apply for is a heat pump, not another furnace. (4)

So if the rebate is part of your thinking, the equipment it points at is a heat pump instead of another gas furnace. The program sets the amounts and changes them, so read the current figures on its own site.

Who Is Allowed to Replace a Gas Furnace in Ontario

TSSA registers fuels contractors as the only businesses that can legally do fuels-related work in Ontario, and it certifies the tradespeople who install and service natural gas equipment. (5) Both halves apply to a furnace replacement: the company doing the job and the person holding the tools.

TSSA also publishes a qualified contractor checklist and a search for registered fuels contractors. (5) Both are worth running against whoever quotes this job, ourselves included.

Mike Peddle holds a TSSA Gas Technician certificate and a TSSA Heating Contractor registration.

Furnace Replacement Questions From Smithville Homeowners

What efficiency does a new furnace need in Ontario?

At least 95 percent AFUE for a standard residential gas furnace. (1) The rule is federal and applies to units manufactured on or after 3 July 2019, so it covers Smithville the same way it covers anywhere else in Canada. (1)

Can my new furnace use the existing chimney?

Not for its own exhaust. A 95 percent furnace vents through approved plastic pipe out a side wall, because its flue gases are too cool to rise up a chimney. (2) The question that follows is what happens to a water heater sharing that chimney.

What size furnace do I need?

The size comes from a heat loss calculation to CSA standard F280, which looks at your house rather than its square footage. (2) NRCan says floor area alone, or matching the outgoing unit, is not adequate in most cases. (2)

Is there a rebate for a new gas furnace?

No. Ontario’s Home Renovation Savings program lists heat pumps, not gas furnaces. (4) Having a gas furnace is what makes the household eligible to apply for a heat pump.

How many quotes should I get?

Three, in writing, from different contractors. Enbridge Gas asks for each one to set out the work to be done and the total price, which is what makes them comparable. (3)

Book a Furnace Replacement Quote in Smithville

Call the office. Useful things to know before anyone arrives: the age of the furnace, whether a water heater shares its chimney, and where the furnace sits in the house. Environmental Heating & Cooling has been family-owned since 2014 and is rated 5.0 on Google. The work covers Smithville, Grimsby, Beamsville, Caledonia and West Lincoln.

The furnaces page sets out which gas furnace job a Smithville house needs.

References

1. Government of Canada, Regulations Amending the Energy Efficiency Regulations, 2016, (SOR/2019-164), Canada Gazette Part II, gazette.gc.ca
2. Natural Resources Canada, Heating with Gas, natural-resources.canada.ca
3. Enbridge Gas, Heating with natural gas, enbridgegas.com
4. Home Renovation Savings, Heat pumps, homerenovationsavings.ca
5. Technical Standards and Safety Authority, Fuel Safety, safetyinfo.ca