Ian's Furnace Service

I'd stay away from this one. Had Ian come out just after Christmas for a bad thermostat. He bumbled around leaving tools behind everywhere (which I'd go find for him), having me hold his light for him, and was mucking about at the furnace when a very loud pop occurred blowing the furnace transformer. He replaced it (for $150 mind you) and the next one quickly heated up again (so he turned it off before it popped, changed something else, then it was fine). He claims to not know what blew the transformer, but the fact the next one was about to blow until he changed something makes me highly doubt that. Then he replaced thermostat (again for $150). He charged $50 call, fee, plus $200 diagnostic fee for a total of $550. But hey, he did give me the GST off (gee, thanks). I really felt this was dragged out to increase the change, and am convinced the transformer blowing was a result of something he was mucking with.

Good service, reasonable pricing and outstanding installation. We were lucky to get Ian to come out just in time when our old furnace which had been acting up for years started acting up again. We had the company that installed it come out and try and fix it for a number of years and they never found a lasting fix. Ian came over and in about 20 minutes of prodding and measuring identified the problem as the furnace being way over powered for the installation and was therefore choking itself off which could be a potentially dangerous situation. He was able to source and install a properly sized unit in a couple of days just before a cold snap came, and sure enough all the internal damage they predicted to the old unit was there, confirming the diagnosis. I have to make specific note of the degree of knowledge and craftsmanship of the installation team. Not only was the new installation of a much higher caliber than the previous one, Andy took the time to explain each step of the way, why they were going to change things, and how the new way of doing it was an improvement, and all of this was confirmed by the City inspector who remarked on the outstanding craftsmanship of the installation.

Ian and his crew did a fantastic job replacing our 50-year old dinosaur of a furnace. There wound up being a lot more work for them than they originally expected, just because of the age of the furnace and the gas lines. Plus, they had to move and re-plumb our hot water tank. The crew worked tirelessly for two 12-hour days, staying late to make sure we didn't go without water or heat. Ian's team came in exactly on budget, and we are extremely pleased with the quality of followup service we've received. Thanks Ian. Our house will be much more comfortable this winter.

Extremely knowledgeable, a true Master Tradesman. I was told I needed to replace my furnace by one company (where the tech spent over an hour trying to diagnose the issue) so I called Ian for a second opinion. He spotted the problem within 5 minutes and gave me a series of options to extend the life of my furnace 8-20 years. I ended up repairing the furnace. Not only did this save me huge $$, but more importantly I felt confident that the work was in very competent hands. I have since used Ian's services to repair two other furnaces and replace two hot water heaters. I cannot say enough about how pleased I have been with the thoroughness and quality of the work, not to mention his ability to come up with innovative solutions to problem situations that exist in older /renovated homes. Key: Ian himself does the work -- it is not passed on to a less experienced tech.

Not impressed. Didn't have the part, tried to sell me a used furnace valve for slightly less than new that wouldn't have fit properly and would have required the furnace cover to be left off. Had me help him carry stuff and hold wrenches for him. Was not professional and would not recommend.

Ian is like a knight in shining armor. He came and got my Air conditioner working at a reasonable price. He also brought to my attention a major issue with my water heater setup that could have had dire consequences. It's nice to work with someone who you can trust.

Ian was a friendly, reliable repairman when our furnace broke. Not only did he give us a great deal on a top of the line furnace, he still helps us maintain it. We’ve had no furnace worries since Ian helped us. I’m definitely a happy customer.

I don’t advise anyone to hire the heating contractor Ian from Ian's Furnace Service, Plumbing & Air Conditioning Ltd. He is not the furnace specialist he pretends to be. If you are planning to use his services, you might be sorely disappointed. We made that mistake and now regret it. A few days ago, our furnace malfunctioned. The blower motor got busted and had to be replaced. It happened on a Friday afternoon. The furnace needed an urgent repair as the weather forecast promised cold and snow the whole next week. Ian's Furnace Service, Plumbing & Air Conditioning Ltd. was looked up on the BBB website and promptly contacted. The guy agreed to come in on Monday. After a whole day of tense waiting, he finally showed up at 5:30 pm. The first impression was bad. He took his time before he started the job. He was more interested in explaining at length how much his services would cost rather than identifying what the problem was. The prices were steep and different from what was discussed over the phone. He billed us a $100 for the visit, $550 for the blower motor (part and instalment), a $100 for a motor bracket and capacitor, and a $100 for a fan cleaning. In total, $892 with GST. Initially, he gave us a quote for only $550. His lack of professionalism was evident: he didn’t produce a receipt; he took a picture of the front and back of the credit card and subsequently charged it from home; he worked slowly, he didn’t take off his shoes, he didn’t wear a mask, he littered the furnace room with his tools. After 4 hours, at 9:30 pm, the blower motor was finally replaced. This is when he presented us with the bad news: the furnace wasn’t going to be working that night. The reason: the furnace short-circuited and had to be further repaired. He refused to explain what the reason was. He flatly told us that he didn’t know and that he had to come back and check again the following day. The next day he came about 5pm after a few phone calls to see when he was to come. Out of the blue, he came up with an explanation and an offer: a blown-up circuit board that needed to be replaced at an additional cost of $900. Ian even said he just purchased the parts before he came, after he previously claimed he didn’t know what the problem was. It was clear that something wasn’t right. Being deceived was bad enough, but being scammed which was probably his intention was the final straw. We thanked him for his work and told him that his services were no longer required. We asked for a partial refund which he emphatically declined. The rationale behind his decision not to give us a refund was that he thought he had done a good job. From our point of view, this wasn’t true. His approach was not transparent and honest; his job was sloppy; his offer was pricey and unreasonable. Would we have known that it would cost us close to $2000 to repair a 26-year-old furnace, we would have never accepted his service and would have gone in a different direction. And this is what we did: $900 later we decided to buy a new furnace from a respectable and well-established furnace company.