Furnace Repair in Toronto: No Heat, Condo Fan Coils and Who Is Allowed to Touch Gas

Checks that cost nothing before a service call

Replace the thermostat batteries and confirm it is set to heat and calling for a temperature above the room. Find the furnace switch, which looks like a light switch on or near the unit, and make sure it is on; someone cleaning around it flips it off more often than you would think. Check the breaker. Pull the filter: a clogged filter trips the high-limit switch and the furnace runs briefly and stops. For a high-efficiency furnace, go outside and look at the two white plastic pipes on the wall; snow, ice or a bird’s nest blocking them shuts the furnace down as a safety measure.

If the furnace tries to start and stops, note the pattern and any flashing code on the control board, visible through a small window on the front panel. That code is the first thing a technician will ask about.

• Thermostat batteries and mode
• Furnace power switch and breaker
• Filter condition
• Exhaust and intake pipes clear outside
• Flashing code and the fault pattern

Who is allowed to do the work in Ontario

Gas appliances in Ontario fall under the Technical Standards and Safety Authority. Anyone working on the gas side of your furnace must hold a TSSA gas technician certificate, and a furnace installation or replacement is registered and inspected. The contractor should carry a TSSA registration for the business as well; ask to see both before approving work. Electrical work on the furnace circuit is separate again and belongs to a licensed electrical contractor under the Electrical Safety Authority.

If you smell gas, leave the home before you call anyone, then phone Enbridge Gas’s 24-hour emergency line, printed on every bill, or 911 from outside. Do not operate switches or phones inside. Carbon monoxide alarms are required by Ontario’s fire code in homes with fuel-burning appliances; test yours when you change the furnace filter.

Condo heating is a different job

Most Toronto condo towers heat and cool suites with fan coil units: a coil fed by the building’s hot or chilled water loop and a fan that blows air across it. The building decides when the loop switches from cooling to heating, which is why a suite can be cold in October regardless of what the thermostat says. Inside the suite, the fan motor, thermostat, valve actuator, filter and condensate drain are usually the owner’s responsibility under the declaration; the risers and shutoffs are common elements.

Fan coil filters need changing far more often than furnace filters, and a blocked condensate pan is the single most common cause of the water damage claims that follow. Before hiring anyone, ask property management which contractors are approved for the building, whether the unit needs a riser shutdown, and whether the corporation is already planning a fan-coil replacement program.

Repair, replace and tenant rights

Get the diagnosis before you decide. A failed igniter, flame sensor, pressure switch or blower motor on a furnace under fifteen years old is normally worth repairing; a cracked heat exchanger usually is not, because the part costs a large share of a new furnace and the crack is a carbon monoxide risk. Ask for both the repair quote and a replacement quote in writing, and ask what current rebate programs Enbridge or the province offer for a heat pump or high-efficiency replacement, because those change year to year.

Toronto’s municipal code requires landlords to keep rental units at a minimum temperature from mid-September to the start of June. If you rent and the heat is out, report it to the landlord in writing and, if it is not fixed promptly, to the City. Tenants should not authorize paid furnace work themselves unless the lease says so.