Heating Contractor in Smithville, ON — Furnaces, Heat Pumps and Boilers

Winter here runs long and the cold arrives fast. You are on this page for one of two reasons. Either your heat has stopped and you need someone today, or your system is getting old and you are wondering how much longer it will last.

Both are worth a call. We work on every kind of home heating across Smithville and the towns around it: gas furnaces, heat pumps, boilers, propane and oil. We have been running as a trusted family business since 2014.

Furnaces in Smithville

Most homes here run a gas furnace, so most of our winter work is furnace work. We repair them, service them, and replace them when repairing stops making sense.

A modern gas or propane furnace turns 90 to 98 percent of its fuel into heat. An oil furnace manages 78 to 96 percent. (1) If your furnace is old, you pay that difference every month.

Getting the size right matters more than people expect. Natural Resources Canada tells homeowners to have their contractor calculate the heat the house needs. (2) We run that calculation every time. A furnace that is too big switches on and off too often, wears out sooner, and still leaves you with cold rooms.

Older Smithville homes have a second problem. The ducts are often the originals, and they are too small to carry what a new furnace produces. We look at the furnace and the ducts together before we quote.

→ More on our furnace repair, replacement and maintenance work

Heat Pumps for Niagara Winters

A heat pump heats and cools from one system, and a cold-climate model keeps up through an Ontario winter.

We have converted 174 homes and claimed over $1 million in rebates for those customers, fitting Mitsubishi Electric Zuba and Bosch cold-climate systems.

→ More on how cold-climate heat pumps handle a Niagara winter

Boilers and Hydronic Heating

Plenty of older homes in Grimsby and Beamsville heat with water instead of air. A boiler warms the water and sends it to radiators, baseboards, or pipes under the floor.

We install, replace, repair and service gas boilers, combi boilers and hydronic systems. Gas boiler work is licensed work, and we do it under our TSSA certification.

A new gas boiler sold in Canada has to reach 90 percent AFUE, and an oil boiler 84 percent. (3) AFUE is the share of fuel the boiler turns into heat for your house. A boiler fitted before those rules came in costs you real money over one winter.

Air trapped inside a radiator stops the heat reaching the room. Let it out through the bleed valve each season, unless your system does that on its own. (4) Skip it and you lose heat you have already paid for.

→ More on boiler installation, repair and servicing

Heating Repair When the Heat Goes Out

If you have no heat in the middle of winter, don’t wait until next week. Call us and we will book you in as fast as we can.

We find the fault before we quote. If one part has failed, we tell you it is one part. We will not turn a repair call into a sales pitch for a whole new system. If a company has done that to you before, you already know why we say this.

Rural calls take more planning. Long lanes and unplowed driveways out toward West Lincoln are part of the job here, and we would rather know before we set out.

We will tell you plainly whether the repair is worth doing. Sometimes it is not, and we will say so.

→ More on what happens on a no-heat call

Heating Installation and Replacement

A new system lasts fifteen to twenty years, so it is worth taking time over the sizing.

We measure the house, take the old unit out, set up and test the new one, and register your warranty. We offer financing, because heating systems rarely fail at a convenient time.

Your fuel changes the options. Much of West Lincoln and Haldimand has no gas line, so we work with propane, oil and heat pumps instead. Homes heating with oil qualify for the largest rebates available, which can make switching cost far less than people expect.

→ More on how we size and install a new heating system

Heating Maintenance and Tune-Ups

Most January no-heat calls come down to something a service in October would have caught.

A tune-up keeps your manufacturer warranty valid, holds the system at the efficiency you paid for, and finds small faults while they are still small. Greener Homes Club members get booked in first, which matters when the first hard frost arrives and everyone calls at once.

If you heat with hot water, vacuum the radiators or baseboards each autumn. Dust on the fins blocks the heat you are paying for. (4)

Book before the cold arrives, not during it. Our busy period is short, and everyone calls in the same few days.

→ More on what a seasonal heating service covers and booking a heating tune-up before winter

When Replacing Your Furnace Beats Repairing It Again

Most furnaces run 15 to 20 years, and plenty run longer. No single age decides it for you. Weigh what the next repair costs against what a new system costs.

An air-source heat pump lasts about the same, 15 to 20 years. (5) If you are replacing anyway, price both.

Contractors use a rough calculation called the $5,000 rule. Multiply the age of the unit by the cost of the repair. Above $5,000, replace it. Below it, repair.

An 18-year-old furnace with a $400 repair gives you $7,200. Well above the line, so a new system is worth pricing.

Repair still wins often. A young system with one failed part is worth fixing, and so is an older unit that has been serviced every year and has needed nothing until now.

The math changes if you heat with propane or oil. Those fuels cost more, so a more efficient system pays you back faster, and that turns a borderline repair into a clear replacement.

We will give you the comparison either way, including what a heat pump would cost to run.

What Affects Heating Costs in Smithville

We do not put prices on a website, because a real number depends on your house and these five things.

The system you have now. Age, type and condition all count. Swapping like for like costs less than changing fuel.

Your ductwork. Ducts that are too small or leaking get fixed too, or the new system underperforms from the first day.

Your fuel. Gas, propane and oil cost different amounts to run and suit different equipment. Homes with no gas line choose between propane, oil and a heat pump, and the heat pump is often cheapest to run.

Access. Where the equipment sits, and what has to come out to remove the old one.

Rebates. The money most people never claim. Our customers have claimed over $1 million. We work out what you qualify for and file the paperwork.

Ask us for the number for your house. We would rather price your house properly than put a guess on a website.

Licensed, TSSA-Certified Heating Work

Ask any heating contractor to show you their licence. A good one will not mind.

Ontario regulates gas work and refrigeration work by law. Between them they cover almost everything in your basement.

Our certifications:

• TSSA Gas Technician
• TSSA Heating Contractor
• TSSA Industrial Maintenance Technician
• Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Mechanic 313A

That last one covers heat pumps and air conditioning, which are refrigeration systems rather than heating systems. Not every heating company holds it.

We are a trusted family business serving Niagara since 2014, with a 5.0 rating on Google.

If your heat is out, or your system may not last the winter

Give us a call today and we will tell you what you are dealing with. No pressure either way.

We cover heating and cooling across Smithville and the surrounding towns.

References

1. Natural Resources Canada, Furnaces — EnerGuide, natural-resources.canada.ca
2. Natural Resources Canada, Residential furnaces, natural-resources.canada.ca
3. Natural Resources Canada, Gas and Oil-Fired Residential Boilers, natural-resources.canada.ca
4. Natural Resources Canada, Keeping the Heat In — Section 9: Operating your house, natural-resources.canada.ca
5. Natural Resources Canada, Heating and cooling with a heat pump, natural-resources.canada.ca