Furnace Installation & Repair

Most forced-air houses in Burnaby, Surrey, Richmond, Coquitlam and the North Shore still heat with a natural gas furnace, and many of those furnaces were installed in the 1990s and 2000s and are reaching the end of a 15 to 25 year life. The first decision is repair or replace. A failed igniter, flame sensor, pressure switch or blower capacitor is a routine repair; a cracked heat exchanger, a furnace over 20 years old with repeated failures, or a repair quote above a third of the replacement cost usually tips the answer to replacement.

Replacing a gas furnace like for like is still allowed everywhere in Metro Vancouver, including the City of Vancouver, and it needs a gas permit. That permit comes from the municipality in Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, Maple Ridge and both North Vancouvers, and from Technical Safety BC everywhere else. The work must be done by a gas fitter employed by a gas contractor licensed with Technical Safety BC.

A high-efficiency condensing furnace vents through plastic pipe out the side wall, so venting and condensate drainage are part of the quote, and an old chimney may need a liner for any remaining gas water heater.

Many homeowners now weigh a new furnace against a heat pump, or pair a heat pump with the furnace as a dual-fuel system so gas only runs on the coldest days. There is currently no general rebate for a like-for-like gas furnace in Metro Vancouver, and income-qualified households can get substantial CleanBC money for switching to a heat pump instead. A good contractor will price both options side by side.