Furnace repair and heating in Binbrook

In the newer streets around Fall Fair Way, Fletcher Road and Binhaven Blvd, most furnaces are high-efficiency models that draw air in and exhaust it through two plastic pipes in the side wall. When drifting snow covers those pipes, the furnace shuts itself off as a safety step. That is usually all it is. Go outside, clear the snow from both pipes by hand, then turn the furnace switch off and back on. If it still will not light, or the pipes keep icing over, leave it off and book a furnace repair visit.

Work is performed by TSSA-certified gas technicians at Binbrook Furnace Repair, as Ontario Regulation 212/01 requires: gas appliances must be installed, serviced and repaired by a TSSA-registered contractor using G1, G2 or G3 gas technicians, to the CSA B149.1 Natural Gas and Propane Installation Code. You can safely change a filter or clear snow from an outside vent. Anything inside the burner area or on the gas line belongs to a technician. Before any gas work starts, ask to see the technician's certificate. More on furnace installation and replacement.

The Ontario Fire Code requires a working carbon monoxide alarm next to each sleeping area in a home with a fuel-burning appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage. That covers nearly every Binbrook house with a gas furnace, from the older homes on Binbrook Road to the newer houses with attached garages. If an alarm sounds, take everyone outside, call the fire department from there, and stay out until they say it is clear. Test each alarm this week, and read our carbon monoxide guide.

A high-efficiency condensing furnace, the kind in most houses built from the 2000s onward around Royal Winter Blvd and Reid Ave N, makes water as it runs. That water drains through a small plastic line to a floor drain or a pump. When the line or trap clogs, water backs up and a safety switch often stops the furnace. A small puddle is not an emergency. Wipe it up, check the drain line is not kinked and the condensate pump is plugged in, and leave the trap to a technician. A seasonal maintenance visit cleans the drain before it blocks.

It depends on the fault. Many no-heat calls come down to a small part such as an igniter, a flame sensor or a pressure switch, which costs far less than a major component like an inducer motor, a control board or a blower motor. The largest repair is a heat exchanger, and a cracked one is not left running, because it can let carbon monoxide into the air in your house. Whatever the fault, you see a written price and approve it before a part is fitted. Describe the symptom when you book a furnace repair.

Mid-century houses along Binbrook Road usually have a mid-efficiency gas furnace venting up the chimney, and many of those furnaces are near the end of their life. In the oldest village core houses near Highway 56, the chimney may date from oil or coal days and may never have been relined, and an old oil tank is sometimes still in place. Common findings are worn heat exchangers, venting that is the wrong size and ducts that are too small. None of this means trouble tonight. Note the furnace's age from its label, and read how long a furnace lasts.

In the tighter houses built around Fall Fair Way and Fletcher Road, the furnace is sometimes larger than the house needs. An oversized furnace heats quickly, shuts off and starts again soon after, which leaves rooms uneven and wears the parts harder. A dirty filter or closed registers can cause similar swings. Start with the simple things: change the filter, open every register and make sure the thermostat is not near a heat source. If the swings continue, sizing may be the cause, which matters most at replacement time. See furnace installation and replacement.