Most homes in Ontario heat and cool with one of three systems. The age of the house usually tells you which one is in the basement, and what tends to go wrong with it. Here is the short version, then a walk through Caledonia's housing by era.
The three common systems
- **Forced-air furnace, often with central air.** A furnace burns gas or propane, heats air and a blower pushes it through ducts to every room. Central air shares the same ducts and blower, with an outdoor unit and a coil sitting on top of the furnace. This is the most common setup in Ontario.
- **Boiler with radiators or in-floor heat.** A boiler heats water and pumps it through pipes to radiators, baseboard convectors or tubing in the floor. There are no ducts, so cooling has to come from a separate system.
- **Heat pump.** A heat pump moves heat instead of making it. In winter it pulls heat from the outdoor air and brings it inside. In summer it runs the other way and works as an air conditioner. It can be ducted, using the same ducts a furnace would, or ductless, with wall-mounted heads in each zone.
Many houses mix these. A hybrid system pairs a heat pump with a gas furnace, and the controls pick whichever is better for the outdoor temperature. Older homes sometimes have a boiler for heat and ductless heads for cooling.
Older brick homes around Edinburgh Square
Caledonia's oldest houses stand around Edinburgh Square and Caithness Street, from the town's early village years. They were built for wood or coal. Over time most were converted to oil or gas boilers, gravity systems or forced air added later.
What that usually means in the basement:
- A boiler with cast-iron radiators, or a furnace feeding ductwork squeezed in after the fact.
- Narrow, cramped ducts that were never planned for the house.
- An old masonry chimney that may need a liner when the heating equipment changes.
- Possible asbestos wrap on old pipes or ducts. Leave it alone and have it checked before anyone cuts into it.
If the radiators heat well, a boiler is a comfortable system worth keeping. Cooling is the harder part. Small retrofitted ducts often cannot carry central air, which is why ductless systems suit these houses. See air conditioning installation.
Centennial-era houses north of the river
North of the Grand River, the Shetland Street area grew enough to need Caledonia Centennial Public School, which opened in Canada's centennial year. Ontario houses of that period were typically built with a standard-efficiency gas forced-air furnace venting into a chimney.
What to know about them:
- Most are on a second or third furnace, still running through the original ducts.
- When the furnace is upgraded to a high-efficiency unit that vents out the side wall, the gas water heater can be left alone in the old chimney. That chimney is now too big for it, which can cause condensation and poor draft. The venting has to be checked on any replacement.
- The original ducts are often too small for central air. A new air conditioner pushed through them runs loud and cools unevenly.
Because the ducts may need work anyway, these houses are good candidates for a heat pump or hybrid system when the furnace is due. See heat pumps and furnace installation and replacement.
New builds in Avalon
Avalon is one of Caledonia's newer developments. Homes like these normally have a high-efficiency condensing gas furnace with two plastic pipes out the side wall, central air on the same ducts, and a tightly sealed shell with mechanical ventilation.
The common problems are specific:
- The condensate drain blocks or freezes, and the furnace shuts itself off.
- Snow covers the intake and exhaust pipes on the side wall. Clear them by hand after a storm.
- The ventilator filters get forgotten, and the house feels stuffy or damp.
These are mostly maintenance items. A seasonal tune-up that covers the condensate line and the ventilator is what keeps them from turning into a no-heat call. See furnace and AC maintenance.
Rural properties off the gas main
Parts of Haldimand around Caledonia are still not on the natural gas network. Homes there heat with propane, oil, electric baseboard or wood. A propane furnace looks and works much like a natural gas one, with different settings. Oil furnaces and boilers need more regular servicing. For these homes, a cold-climate heat pump is often the most practical upgrade, with the existing furnace kept as backup in a hybrid setup.
What is the cheapest way to heat a home in Canada
There is no single answer, because it depends on three things.
- **What fuel reaches your house.** Where natural gas is available, a high-efficiency gas furnace has long been a low-cost way to run heat. Off the gas main, the choice is between propane, oil, electricity and wood, and the running cost of each shifts with fuel prices.
- **How efficient the equipment is.** An old standard-efficiency furnace sends a good share of its heat up the chimney. A condensing furnace keeps most of it in the house. A heat pump can deliver more heat than the electricity it uses, which is why it is often the efficient choice for homes heating with electric baseboard, oil or propane.
- **How well the house holds heat.** Air sealing, attic insulation and properly sized ducts cut the bill whatever the system. In an older home, fixing drafts can do more than a new furnace.
A practical way to think about it:
- On natural gas with a working furnace: keep it maintained, and look at a heat pump or hybrid system when the furnace or air conditioner is due for replacement.
- On electric baseboard, oil or propane: a cold-climate heat pump is usually worth pricing.
- Before any change: check current rebate and incentive programs. They change often, and some require an energy assessment before the work is done.
A safety point for every system
If your home has a fuel-burning appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage, the Ontario Fire Code requires a working carbon monoxide alarm next to each sleeping area. That covers gas and propane furnaces, boilers, oil heat and gas water heaters. Test the alarms when you change the furnace filter, and replace them when they reach the end of their life date.
How to tell what you have
- Vents in the floors or walls and a filter slot near the furnace: forced air.
- Radiators or baseboard convectors with pipes: a boiler.
- An outdoor unit that runs in winter as well as summer: a heat pump.
- Two plastic pipes out the side wall: a high-efficiency condensing furnace.
- A metal flue going into a chimney: an older standard-efficiency appliance.
If something is not working right, start with the most common furnace problems and what to check, or read about an air conditioner that runs but does not cool.
If you are weighing a replacement for your Caledonia house, Caledonia Furnace can look at the system and give you a written price for furnace installation and replacement.