Buying a Home in the Fall in Quebec: How to Check the Heating System Yourself

The first cold snap changes a house showing: the heat is on, under-heated rooms give themselves away, and the seller knows what last winter cost. Our article on what the inspector can't see in a fall or winter inspection covered the limits of a cold-season inspection. This one takes the other side: what you can check on the heating system yourself, at the showing, before you ever draft a promise to purchase.

Start by identifying the system

You cannot judge a heating system until you know which one you are looking at. In Quebec, you will mostly see five setups, sometimes combined in one house:

• Electric baseboards: one unit per room, usually under windows, with a wall or built-in thermostat. No combustion, but the bill depends directly on insulation.
• Heat pump: an outdoor unit connected to one or more indoor units (wall-mounted or ducted central). It heats in winter and cools in summer, often with backup heat.
• Oil furnace: a burner in the basement, ducts or radiators, and a fuel tank somewhere on the property.
• Natural gas furnace or appliances: fed by the utility network, with a gas meter outside.
• Dual energy: electricity as the main source, with a fuel (gas, oil, propane or wood pellets) taking over in deep cold.

Look for the clues: an outdoor unit beside the house, a gas meter, an active chimney, a fill pipe on an exterior wall, floor registers, or a baseboard under every window. Take notes room by room.

Your own checklist at the showing

A fall showing lets you see the system working. Without tools or technical training, you can already observe a lot:

• Room-by-room warmth: a bedroom colder than the rest, a chilly basement or an addition with no heat source are all worth noting.
• Noise and smells: a furnace that bangs on startup or an oil smell in the basement deserves a question, and a note for the inspector.
• The rating plate: most appliances carry a label with the manufacturer, model and often the manufacturing date. Photograph it.
• Filters: on a furnace or ducted heat pump, a visibly clogged filter tells you something about routine upkeep.
• Service tags: a dated service sticker on the unit is a good sign.

Natural Resources Canada recommends having a contractor do seasonal checks every year, with the heating check scheduled in the fall. In the middle of heating season, it is perfectly fair to ask the seller whether this year's check has been done.

The paper trail to request from the seller

What you see at the showing is worth more with documents behind it. Through your broker, ask for:

• The installation year of the main heating appliance and, where relevant, the heat pump and water heater.
• Service invoices for recent years: they confirm the stated age and show whether the unit was looked after.
• Twelve months of electricity bills: a Hydro-Québec bill shows the consumption recorded by the meter for each period. A full year shows the true weight of winter.
• Fuel bills: oil or propane deliveries, or natural gas bills, for the same period.
• The electricity rate on file: it is printed on the bill and tells you, for example, whether the home is on the dual-energy rate.

Keep in mind that energy use also reflects the household: number of occupants, thermostat settings, working from home. These bills give you an order of magnitude, not a guarantee. For where heating fits in the bigger budget, see our article on the true cost of homeownership beyond the mortgage.

Dual energy and Rate DT: read the bills the right way

If the home has dual-energy heating, its bills read differently. According to Hydro-Québec, Rate DT is for customers whose heating combines electricity as the main source with a backup fuel. The switchover temperature is -12 °C or -15 °C, depending on the region.

Above that threshold, the home heats with electricity billed at a lower price. Below it, the system switches to fuel, and any electricity used is billed at a higher price. A changeover device, made up of a switch and a temperature sensor, handles the transition automatically. Hydro-Québec notes that the rate can cost more than a regular rate if electricity use in very cold weather is high.

For a buyer, that means two things: ask for both the electricity bills AND the fuel bills, and confirm at the showing that the backup appliance is still there and working. If the backup fuel is oil, the next section applies too.

Oil heat: what Quebec's rules mean for a buyer

An oil-heated home is not unsellable, but you should buy it knowing the rules. Quebec's Regulation respecting oil-fired heating appliances has banned installing an oil appliance in new construction since December 31, 2021. In existing buildings, since December 31, 2023, it also bans replacing an oil appliance with one that burns another fossil fuel, and repairing an oil-fired heating appliance more than 20 years old.

In practice, the furnace's real age becomes a deciding question. A newer unit can still be repaired; one over 20 years old cannot, and at its first serious breakdown it will need to be replaced with a non-fossil system. Service invoices and the rating plate are exactly what you need to pin down that age.

And do not count on a subsidy that is gone: the Quebec government announced that financial assistance for converting residential oil or propane heating systems ended on March 31, 2026. The cost of a possible conversion belongs in your thinking about price.

As for the tank itself, ask where it is (basement, above ground outside, or buried), when it was installed and whether it has ever been replaced. A buried tank raises soil questions; if that is your situation, talk to your broker before drafting anything, and check with your insurer before you waive your conditions.

Where the inspector takes over

Your notes do not replace a pre-purchase inspection. The home inspector visually examines the accessible system, reports what they see and may recommend a specialist. Hand over your notes and photos: the rating plate, the cold room, the basement smell.

A technical check of the appliance (combustion, heat exchanger, gas or oil connections) is done by a qualified contractor, ideally within your inspection condition period. If the heating system's age or condition worries you, that is also the window to negotiate, not after the deed of sale is signed.