When it comes to home heating, most people assume furnace installation is straightforward — remove the old unit, put in a new one, and enjoy the warmth. In reality, the process is more complex, and cutting corners or making the wrong choices can leave you with higher bills, uneven comfort, and unnecessary repairs. From choosing the right furnace size, to pairing it with modern thermostats, to understanding filters and ductwork, every detail impacts performance and efficiency.
Below, we bring together expert insights on the risks of oversizing your furnace, the benefits of programmable thermostats, the importance of choosing the right filters, and the often-overlooked role of ducts, grilles, and registers. Together, these factors determine how well your heating system will perform and how much you’ll actually save on energy bills
It may seem logical to install a bigger furnace than your old one — more heat must mean better comfort, right? Unfortunately, bigger isn’t always better.
Well not so fast, according to an article on Green Building Advisor. If you’re not careful you could feel colder much of the time, even if your new furnace generates more heat than your old one. Sounds strange but it’s true. According to the article, this is what happens when you replace an old 60,000 BTU furnace with the more efficient 69,000 BTU furnace the HVAC tech talked you into.
“The relevant capacity of the furnace isn’t the rate of BTU input. It’s how quickly those BTUs go into your home — the output capacity. Let’s look at what happened… when you replaced the old furnace. You started with 60,000 BTU/hr at 80% efficiency, so your old furnace supplied 60,000 x 0.8 = 48,000 BTU/hr. The new furnace has an output capacity of 69,000 x 0.95 = 65,550 BTU/hr… So, your new furnace is 37% larger in terms of its ability to provide heat to your home.”
The reason this matters is that with all those extra BTUs available the furnace is going to kick out shorter, but much more intense bursts of heat, meaning you’ll be frying like an egg on a red-hot skillet for short periods and bundling up against drafts much of the rest of the time.
Makes sense doesn’t it? So why would any HVAC technician worth their duct tape recommend such a furnace installation?
First, not all furnace technicians are equal. Some are highly-trained experts with years of hands-on experience who keep themselves well-versed in the latest technological advances surrounding furnace installation and are always straight with customers. Others… not so much.
And second, because furnace scams are more common than many in the profession would like to admit. That’s understandable as frauds tend to give everyone a bad name. But if it’s going to be stopped the phenomenon first needs to be recognized.
As we said, check out the full list over at buildings (.com) when you have a chance.
An oversized furnace might seem like a good idea for quickly heating your home, but it can lead to several issues. Here’s why bigger isn’t always better:
Oversized furnaces heat your home too quickly, causing the system to turn on and off frequently (short cycling). This leads to:
Quick heating cycles don’t allow for consistent temperature control. Some areas may become too warm, while others remain cold, resulting in discomfort.
Larger furnaces consume more energy with each cycle. Short cycling amplifies this effect, leading to higher utility bills without delivering optimal comfort.
An oversized furnace often fails to run long enough to properly dehumidify the air, especially in winter. This can leave your home feeling damp and uncomfortable.
Frequent cycling stresses the furnace’s components, such as the blower motor and heat exchanger, leading to faster breakdowns and more frequent repairs.
Oversized furnaces tend to operate noisily due to their power output and rapid cycling, which can disrupt the peace in your home.
Oversized furnaces typically have a higher upfront cost. When combined with their inefficiency, they don’t provide a good return on investment.
To avoid these risks, ensure a proper HVAC load calculation is performed by a licensed professional. This will help determine the correct furnace size for your home based on factors like square footage, insulation, windows, and climate. A properly sized furnace delivers consistent comfort, operates efficiently, and extends the system’s lifespan.
For decades, the nightly ritual of manually adjusting the thermostat has been a staple in many households. However, this routine often leads to wasted energy by leaving the heat running overnight or forgetting to adjust it before leaving the house. Fortunately, programmable thermostats effectively solve these common inefficiencies, offering convenience, savings, and advanced control over your home’s climate.
There are three primary types of thermostats, each of which is appropriate for a certain set of needs and lifestyles. Choosing one that works with your heating and cooling system is crucial.
Features: Easy to use, requires no programming, and may be manually modified as necessary.
Advantages: Economical, user-friendly, and perfect for little houses.
Drawbacks: No energy savings are automatic.
Advice: Increase energy efficiency by manually regulating the temperature throughout the day.
Features: Temperatures are automatically adjusted according to a preset timetable.
Advantages: Economical, practical, and perfect for households with consistent routines.
Advice: You can adjust to unforeseen schedule changes because many models support manual overrides.
Features: Wi-Fi equipped for PC, tablet, or smartphone remote control.
Advantages: Very adaptable, provides cutting-edge energy savings, and regulates the temperature throughout the entire house.
Drawbacks: More expensive up front.
Advice: For more balanced heating or cooling in large households, look for models with several sensors.
programmable thermostat is a perfect companion to a newly installed furnace, improving system performance and efficiency. These devices have advanced significantly, becoming more intuitive and feature-rich.
Programmable thermostats allow you to create personalized temperature schedules, saving energy when you’re sleeping or away while providing comfort when you’re at home. This efficient functioning saves energy and decreases electricity expenses.
Today’s furnaces include modern features like variable-speed fans and staged heating. A programmable thermostat enhances these capabilities by assuring peak performance and constant comfort.
According to the US Department of Energy, automated temperature adjustments can save you up to 10% on your heating and cooling bills each year.
Modern programmable thermostats are simple to operate and typically offer remote access via smartphone applications, allowing you to regulate the temperature in your house from anywhere.
Reducing energy use reduces your carbon footprint, making programmable thermostats an ecologically responsible option.
Programmable thermostats offer more precise temperature control, reducing volatility and ensuring a pleasant interior atmosphere.
These thermostats open the path for smart technology by integrating with sophisticated systems such as energy monitoring and predictive maintenance.
What is a programmable thermostat?
A programmable thermostat sets your home’s temperature according to a predetermined schedule, eliminating the need for human adjustments.
Are programmable thermostats worth it?
Yes! Lowering your thermostat by 1°F will save you 1% on your energy bill. While the initial expenditure may be larger, the long-term benefits and decreased HVAC strain make them an excellent choice.
What are some drawbacks of programmable thermostats?
Certain models are not compatible with all HVAC systems. Advanced choices, such as smart thermostats, may come at a higher cost and provide functions that not all customers require.
Can I install a programmable thermostat myself?
Yes, if you are handy with DIY projects, installation is doable. However, if you are unsure, professional assistance like Tropic Air ensures appropriate installation and system compatibility.
The type of filter that you choose to have installed in your home heating system could have a big impact on both air quality and efficiency. With this in mind, we thought it would prove useful to take a look at the main types available in Toronto and how they affect the performance of a domestic furnace. In addition to the available different types, you will also need to consider the MERV rating of any filters you install, i.e. the percentage of small particles that they will trap as the air flows through your newly installed furnace.
Whether you are choosing a filter for a brand-new furnace installation or repairing/tune an existing furnace, you will find that there are three main types commonly available.
Manufactured from paper and polyester, this type of filter is available in a wide range of sizes and MERV ratings. They are quite effective at removing ordinary household allergens and other airborne particles and are relatively cheap too. Depending on the brand and particular model you choose, you can expect to pay anywhere from $2-$40 for a disposable pleated filter. With this type of filter, you should plan on replacing them every 3 months and getting them inspected during periodic furnace maintenance.
This type is even cheaper than disposable quilted furnace installation filters and is, as you would expect, manufactured from fiberglass. In common with the pleated variety, they are available in a variety of sizes but because of the fine nature of the fiberglass from which they are made, they are only available in lower MERV ratings. If you are looking for the cheapest type of filter available in Toronto that will still remove the larger airborne particles in your home, they may be worth considering. However, you will need to check and replace them more frequently than other types.
Made with aluminum or plastic frames, washable furnace installation filters are normally designed to be electrostatic too, which means they retain a static electrical charge that attracts and retains small particles in the air. The filter material is usually made from a combination of polyester and woven polypropylene, the latter having anti-microbial properties in addition to being electrostatic. As you can probably guess, washable filters are the most expensive type available but they are also the most durable, lasting up to 5 years when looked after carefully. If you go for this type, plan on removing and cleaning them about once every 3 months.
MERV – Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value – ratings tell you how many small particles a filter will trap and range from 1-16 for commonly available domestic furnace installation filters. While you might think that the obvious thing to do is to fit a filter with a MERV rating of 16, to trap as many particles as possible, this is not necessarily a good idea. The higher the MERV rating of the filter you install, the harder your furnace will have to work. A MERV rating of around 11 is a good choice for most homes.
As noted above, this will depend on the type of filter that you install.
If you never change your filter, it will become clogged and compromise the efficiency of your furnace.
Heating and air conditioning account for almost half the energy usage of the typical home. If you’re serious about wanting to maximize the efficiency of your HVAC system you need to take the ductwork, grilles, and registers into consideration during a furnace installation or even Air Conditioner unit installation. These are, after all, the components that deliver the heated or cooled air to the house and return it to be reheated or re-cooled. If you have problems with your ducts, grilles, or registers your whole system will suffer.
These three components of your HVAC system are all vital players in the air delivery cycle. Here are some of the reasons you’ll want to make sure you have the right ones in place for your home.
All air being distributed throughout your home is carried by ductwork. Leaky or damaged ducts can seriously undermine the effectiveness of your system. Other factors that impact the effectiveness of your ducts include:
During furnace installation ducts are sometimes installed within the external walls of the home. In other cases, builders will have ductwork installed in the garage or attic simply because it’s easy. But all these locations will drag down the system’s efficiency. Whenever possible ducts should be installed within interior walls away from the home’s envelope.
It’s vital that the ductwork be the right size to carry the correct amount of air to keep your home at the proper temperature. The ductwork that is too narrow will cause your system to be constantly playing catch-up. Many factors go into determining duct size including:
Believe it or not builders in the past sometimes used the channels created between wooden wall joists as HVAC ducts. Thankfully this incredibly inefficient means of transferring heated or cooled air has passed into history but other shortcuts have not. Make sure your ducts are fabricated from the right materials like fiberglass or galvanized steel.
While often spoken of interchangeably registers and grilles typically serve two different purposes in the HVAC air delivery system. Grilles are mostly employed in the service of returning air to the furnace, while registers are used to deliver air from the furnace to the room.
Despite their unimpressive profile return grilles play an important part in influencing the effectiveness of your HVAC system. If the grille is too small or poorly chosen it may impede adequate delivery of air to the system; in effect choking it off. There are myriad considerations that go into selecting the right return grille but the most important is probably Feet Per Minute (FPM). Most grilles should be able to handle 300-500 FPM. If they can’t they’re likely too small and should be replaced.
Supply registers play an equally important role as grilles in making sure your HVAC system is running at optimal efficiency. Registers are most often installed beneath windows or on outer walls and their job is to deliver the piping hot (or blissfully cool) air to a room. If not enough thought goes into selecting the register you may wind up in a situation where it’s sending heated or cooled air in a direction that undermines proper air circulation.
Tropic Air has been serving the HVAC needs of the Toronto community for more than 30 years. Our highly trained and certified HVAC technicians are a cut above the norm and always have the best interests of the client in mind. That’s why we chose them to work for us. They care about the job they do and we care about your satisfaction. Don’t gamble the well-being of your home with some fly-by-night discount operation. Call the pros at Tropic Air and rest easy knowing you’re getting the right products and services for any situation.