Is a free furnace inspection call from Enbridge real? Who to call

These calls peak every fall, when furnaces come back on and homeowners are already thinking about them. The script is usually some version of a free safety or efficiency check, sometimes said to be from Enbridge, the government, a rebate program or your rental company. Once a technician is in the basement, the visit turns into a sales pitch: the furnace is old, the heat exchanger is cracked, the unit is unsafe, and a new furnace or water heater on a rental contract is the fix.

Does Enbridge inspect furnaces?

No. Enbridge Gas says plainly that it does not sell, rent, service or inspect furnaces, water heaters, stoves or outdoor gas appliances, and that its representatives will never come to your door to ask for your gas bill or have you sign a contract. Enbridge's work at your home is on its own equipment: reading the meter every other month, replacing meters, and inspecting its gas service pipe and meter on a set cycle. Those meter and pipe inspections are free, usually unannounced because they take a few minutes outside, and done by Enbridge staff or named contractors who wear photo ID.

The one time an Enbridge technician will look at your appliances is after a meter exchange or an outage, to check the piping and relight what they shut off. They do not sell you anything on that visit.

Who actually comes to your home about gas, and why?

Who should inspect my furnace in Ontario?

A gas technician certified by TSSA, working for a TSSA registered fuels contractor. In Ontario, work on a gas appliance is regulated under the Technical Standards and Safety Act, 2000: the business must be registered with TSSA and the technician must hold a gas technician certificate, usually a G2 for a house furnace. Book the visit yourself, once a year, ideally in early fall before the first cold week. A proper tune-up includes cleaning and checking the burners, flame sensor and igniter, testing the safety controls, checking the venting and inspecting the heat exchanger.

On Doyo, Furnace Maintenance is $206.50, the full price with Doyo's fee included, shown before you book. Doyo checks the technician's TSSA gas certificate before they are offered heating work, and the card is charged only when the job is marked complete.

What if the technician says my furnace is unsafe?

Take a real hazard seriously, and check it without signing anything that day. A technician who finds an immediate hazard, such as a cracked heat exchanger or a venting fault, can shut off the gas and tag the appliance, and you must not use it until it is fixed. What a tag does not do is require you to buy from the company that wrote it. Ask for the finding in writing with photos or readings, then call a second TSSA-registered contractor you chose yourself to confirm it and quote the repair.

I already let them in or signed. What now?

You may be able to cancel. Since March 1, 2018, Ontario's Consumer Protection Act has banned businesses from signing contracts at your home for furnaces, air conditioners, water heaters, water softeners, water filters, air purifiers and duct cleaning unless you contacted them first and asked them to come. A contract that came from an uninvited approach is void: you can keep the equipment with no obligation, and the business must cover third-party fees such as the old supplier's removal charges. Even when you did invite them, you have 10 days after receiving the written contract to cancel for any reason.

1. Find the written contract and note the date you received it.
2. Send the cancellation in writing, by email or registered mail, and keep a copy.
3. Call Consumer Protection Ontario at 1-800-889-9768 (416-326-8800 in Toronto) if the company refuses. Rules on voiding contracts turn on the facts, so check with them or a lawyer before you stop paying.
4. Check whether a notice of security interest was registered against your home for the equipment, and ask Consumer Protection Ontario how to have it removed if the contract is void.

How do I spot a fake furnace inspection call?

• The caller says they are from Enbridge, TSSA or the government and want to inspect your furnace. None of them do that.
• The check is free, and the visit is for your furnace or water heater rather than a job you asked for.
• They mention a rebate or incentive that has to be claimed now. Check rebates with the program directly.
• They ask for your gas bill or account number.
• On the visit, a problem is found and the answer is a new unit on a rental agreement, signed that day.