Furnace and air conditioning service in Ancaster

Not necessarily. Many households keep the gas furnace and add a cold-climate heat pump, so the heat pump handles cooling and milder heating days and the furnace takes over in the coldest weeks. Whether that suits your house depends on the ductwork, the electrical panel and the furnace's age. Current rebates are checked with you before you decide. See heat pumps and our guide on heat pumps in an Ontario winter.

Start with the simple things. Make sure the thermostat is set to heat, a few degrees above room temperature, and replace its batteries if it has them. Check the furnace switch, which looks like a light switch on or near the furnace, and the breaker in the panel. The front door of the furnace has a safety switch, so it must be seated properly. A badly clogged filter or snow over the side-wall pipes can also stop it. If all of that checks out, note the pattern of the blinking light on the control board and book a furnace repair.

First, check the thermostat fan setting. On ON, the blower runs between heating cycles and the air feels cool; AUTO fixes that. If it is already on AUTO, the burners may be lighting and then shutting off. Common causes are a dirty flame sensor, a failing igniter, a clogged filter tripping the high-limit switch, or a blocked condensate drain on a high-efficiency furnace. In older houses with long duct runs, the far rooms can feel lukewarm even when the furnace is fine. Change the filter, wait one full cycle, and if the air is still cool, book a furnace repair.