Ambleside, Dundarave, Hollyburn and Sentinel Hill are mostly 1950s and 60s houses on modest lots, and the furnace sits in a basement corner or under a crawlspace hatch. The unit we take out of those homes is usually a 1990s mid-efficiency furnace that vents up the chimney. The unit we put in is a high-efficiency condensing furnace that vents through the wall in two plastic pipes and drains a little water while it runs. That changes what the install involves, and the section below walks through it. What does not change is the fit. The new furnace goes where the old one was, on the same gas line and the same ducts, with new sheet metal where the connections differ.

The British Properties, Caulfeild and Cypress Park were built between the mid 1950s and the mid 1980s, and many of those houses are still with the families who bought them new. That means original or once-replaced furnaces in large homes with long duct runs and several return grilles. Replacing a furnace in one of those houses is mostly about airflow. A bigger furnace is rarely the answer. A two-stage or variable speed furnace that runs low and long moves warm air to the far bedrooms and holds a steady temperature, where a single-stage unit blasts, stops, and lets the far rooms cool between cycles. We look at the ducts, the returns and the filter rack before we quote, so the furnace and the ductwork match. If the furnace you have can be repaired for a few more winters instead, our West Vancouver furnace repair page covers what that costs.

West Vancouver runs from sea level at Ambleside to the top of the British Properties, and furnace sizing changes with it. A house on Chartwell or Eyremount sits in colder air than the same house on Bellevue, gets snow where the waterfront gets rain, and runs its furnace more hours each winter. We size by experience: two decades of installs in these same neighbourhoods, the age and insulation of the house, the duct layout, and where the house sits on the hill. We do not size off a square-footage chart, and we do not go a size up to be safe, because an oversized furnace short cycles and wears out early. Higher up we lean toward two-stage units that run on low fire through the long cold stretches. At the waterfront a well-matched single-stage furnace is often the right call, and the price reflects it.

A straightforward furnace replacement in West Vancouver runs $5,000 to $7,000 installed. That price includes the furnace, removal and disposal of the old one, gas fitting, new venting, the condensate drain line, a filter rack, and the sheet metal to tie into your ducts. We install all brands, are an authorized Trane dealer, and service every brand afterward. Eaton's Heating is TSBC licensed (LGA0200006), a Home Performance Contractor Network member, and holds a 4.9 rating across 400-plus Google reviews. Financeit financing at zero percent over 12 months is available if you would rather spread the cost.