9 Ways to Lower Your Ontario Heating Bill This Winter

2026-02-28 · By Ahmad, Owner & Lead Technician, IKAD Mechanical · Efficiency

Reviewed: 2026-05-21 · This article is reviewed periodically. Pricing and rebate amounts current as of the date shown.

Your winter gas and hydro bills are mostly within your control. Here are nine ways to bring them down, ranked roughly by impact, from a change you can make in five minutes to a full system upgrade. Most Halton homes can knock 10 to 30 percent off with the first few.

1. Replace a Furnace Older Than 18 Years

This is the biggest lever. An old 80% AFUE furnace turns roughly one gas dollar in five into nothing. A modern 96 to 98% high-efficiency furnace (we install York, Luxaire and Coleman) captures nearly all of it. On an average Oakville gas bill, that alone is a meaningful monthly drop.

2. Use Scheduled Setbacks

Every 1 degree you lower the thermostat over a full day saves roughly 2 to 3 percent on heating. Set it to 21 when you are home and awake, 18 overnight and when the house is empty. A smart thermostat does this automatically.

3. Add a Smart Thermostat

An Ecobee or Nest with room sensors handles setbacks for you and pre-warms before you get home. Most homeowners save $80 to $200 a year, plus you get real visibility into when your system runs.

4. Seal Your Duct Leaks

The typical Halton home loses 20 to 30 percent of its heated air through unsealed duct seams in the attic and basement, that is heated air dumped into a roof cavity in February. Sealing usually pays back in one to two winters. See our duct work page.

5. Change the Filter on Schedule

A clogged filter makes the blower work harder and can trigger safety lockouts. Check 1-inch filters monthly, media filters every 6 to 12 months. It is the cheapest efficiency habit there is.

6. Get an Annual Furnace Tune-Up

A dirty, out-of-tune furnace burns more gas and fails sooner. About 80 percent of the January no-heat calls we run are on systems that have not been serviced in three or more years. A fall tune-up keeps efficiency up and catches small problems cheap.

7. Balance Your Air

If some rooms are roasting while others are freezing, you are overheating the whole house to make the cold room bearable. Air balancing evens it out so you can run a lower setpoint comfortably. See our guide on uneven two-storey temperatures.

8. Consider a Hybrid Heat Pump

Adding a cold-climate heat pump to your next AC replacement lets it handle most of the winter at two to three times the efficiency of gas, with the furnace taking over only on the coldest days. Rebates make the math better, see our 2026 rebate guide and heat pump vs furnace comparison.

9. Fix the Envelope Basics

Weatherstrip doors, seal obvious drafts, and make sure attic insulation is adequate. HVAC can only be as efficient as the box it is heating. These low-cost fixes reduce the load your system has to meet in the first place.

Want us to show you the payback on any of these for your specific home? Request a free assessment or call (905) 491-6943.

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