Furnace Repair in Kitchener

The furnace repairs we do most in Kitchener are failed igniters, dirty flame sensors, worn inducer motors, blocked condensate drains and overheating caused by poor airflow. The age of your neighbourhood says a lot about which one you're likely to have.

Huron Park, Grand River South, Doon and older parts of Doon South. Many of these homes still run the builder-grade furnace they were built with. At 15 to 20 years, igniters crack, flame sensors coat over, and inducer motors start to whine or rattle on start-up. Control boards and pressure switches follow.

Stanley Park, Victoria Hills, Forest Heights and Laurentian Hills. In postwar to 1970s homes, the furnace has usually been replaced at least once, but the ducts haven't. A modern high-efficiency furnace on old, undersized ductwork can overheat, trip its limit switch and short-cycle. Upstairs bedrooms stay cold while the basement is warm.

Victoria Park, Mount Hope and downtown. In century homes, we see venting and chimney issues, ducts that were added in stages, and furnaces squeezed into tight basements where service access is hard.

The newest Doon South and Huron Park streets. Young furnaces fail less, but condensate lines that freeze where they exit the house, poorly placed thermostats and side-wall vents buried by snow all cause no-heat calls.

Most Kitchener homes get gas from Kitchener Utilities, not Enbridge. If you smell gas, leave the house, then call Kitchener Utilities' 24-hour line at 519-741-2529 or 911 from outside. Don't call a furnace company first.

If your furnace is rented from Enercare, Reliance or another provider, repairs are normally covered by your rental contract and should go through them. We can still give you a second opinion on a replacement, and our rent vs buy guide explains what a buyout involves.

If a technician has put a red tag on your furnace, it means they found an unsafe condition and the gas to the appliance must stay off until it's fixed. It doesn't always mean you need a new furnace. Our red-tagged furnace guide explains the next steps.

A few checks can save you a service call:

• Thermostat set to Heat, a few degrees above room temperature, with fresh batteries.
• Furnace power switch on and breaker not tripped.
• Filter not clogged. A dirty filter can shut a furnace down on its safety limit.
• The two plastic pipes outside (if your furnace vents through the wall) aren't blocked by snow or ice.
• No water pooling around the furnace, which points to a blocked condensate drain.

Still no heat? Note any flashing light code on the furnace's control board (there's usually a small window in the lower panel) and tell us when you call. It helps the technician bring the right part.

Most furnace failures in Kitchener show up at the worst time: the first cold night of the season, or deep in a January cold snap when the furnace barely shuts off. A part that was already weak finally quits.

A yearly furnace tune-up in early fall catches most of these. We clean the flame sensor, test the igniter, inducer and blower, check the heat exchanger and flush the condensate drain. In older central Kitchener homes, we also look at venting and the chimney the water heater shares.

Repair is usually worth it when the furnace is under about 15 years old and the problem is a single part. If it's near 20 years old and needs a major part, replacement is often the better spend. We'll tell you plainly which way we'd go.

If you're replacing, our furnace installation service in Kitchener covers the details, and our furnace repair service page explains how a repair visit works. For the rest of what we do in the city, see our Kitchener HVAC page.