- Your journey
- Step 1 of 6
- Who
- Toronto homeowners
- Decision
- Understand before authorizing
- Evidence
- Written appraisal & sources
Understand your home
Your location and building tell you which questions to ask before choosing equipment.
The answer in plain language
A furnace should suit the heat your home needs and the air your rooms can receive. Your postal code establishes location; the number of storeys describes part of the building. Neither determines a furnace size by itself. Start with your actual home, including its heated basement, renovations and rooms that are uncomfortable.
What to collect before the appraisal
Write down the municipality, postal code, bungalow/two-storey/three-storey layout, detached or attached construction, approximate heated area and whether the basement is heated. Identify additions and recent insulation, window or air-sealing work. A real-estate floor-area figure can omit spaces served by the furnace.
Photograph the accessible equipment label, thermostat, filter arrangement and the surrounding mechanical space without opening service compartments. Note the current fuel and any existing air conditioner or heat pump. Describe when and where comfort problems occur rather than guessing their cause.
How location changes the choice
The Toronto climate guide compares official city, airport and waterfront station normals. These describe long-term seasonal conditions, not the cold-day design temperature used to select capacity. Ask the contractor to identify the applicable design condition and show a heat-loss assessment for the actual building.
A bungalow can have a larger roof footprint and long horizontal ducts. A taller home can have different exposed wall area and more difficult upper-floor air distribution. Attached walls, insulation and leakage can change the result. A three-storey house does not automatically require the biggest furnace.
What you should leave with
A useful appraisal connects the home’s design heat loss to a selected delivered output and explains any room-airflow changes. Cabinet dimensions, filter access, venting and drainage should also be checked. These are separate from the equipment’s advertised efficiency.
Your next decision is whether the existing problem calls for diagnosis, repair, distribution work or replacement. Keep the house information available so that competing contractors assess the same conditions.