Heating Installation
Anyone dealt with a new heating system coming in with wildly different replacement recommendations in Vancouver?
Asked by Ava Patelin Vancouver, British Columbia· 4/1/2026· 236 views
I'm in Vancouver, British Columbia and dealing with a 6-year-old new heating system in our two-storey home. Over the past week, it has been coming in with wildly different replacement recommendations and we're now noticing the system sounds normal at startup but never quite settles into a steady cycle.
One contractor quoted C$1,573 for repair, while another jumped straight to a C$11,480 replacement because of the age. The weather here has been dealing us deep winter heating demand, so I do not want to wait too long, but I also do not want to approve the wrong scope.
If you were comparing bids on this, what would you want checked first? I especially want to know how much weight you would give to load calculation, venting requirements, duct sizing, and equipment staging.
replacementquotessizing
3 Answers
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The price range alone does not tell you enough. Ask what was tested, what failed, and which assumptions are built into the quote. For a new heating system that is coming in with wildly different replacement recommendations, the first things I would ask for are load calculation, venting requirements, duct sizing, and equipment staging. If the contractor is recommending bigger work, ask them to explain which measurement supports that recommendation and whether they ruled out airflow or controls first. In Vancouver, British Columbia, pricing can move around, but the diagnostic process should still be clear.
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If this landed on my schedule, I would want to document the core readings first and then explain exactly why the repair does or does not make economic sense. For a new heating system that is coming in with wildly different replacement recommendations, the first things I would ask for are load calculation, venting requirements, duct sizing, and equipment staging. If the contractor is recommending bigger work, ask them to explain which measurement supports that recommendation and whether they ruled out airflow or controls first. In Vancouver, British Columbia, pricing can move around, but the diagnostic process should still be clear.
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We used the directory reviews to filter out firms that were vague about what they had actually tested. That saved us a lot of time. We had a related issue with our new heating system in Vancouver. Once we forced every quote into the same format, the decision got much easier because the weak recommendations stood out immediately.
James Miller·4/1/2026