Know Your Quote publishes cost guides for home heating, cooling and hot water in Canada. Our job is to help you understand what a job should cost before you ask for quotes, so you can tell a fair quote from an odd one. This policy explains how we choose what to cover, how we write and check our pages, and what we won’t do.
Last reviewed: October 2026.
What we publish
Our pages answer practical questions homeowners ask before replacing or repairing a furnace, heat pump, air conditioner, hot water tank or related equipment: what it costs, what changes the price, how the options compare and what to ask a contractor. Every page is written for the person paying for the work.
How we research
Every price range follows the process described in our methodology. In short, we publish a range only when at least three independent sources support it, we show prices in Canadian dollars with the date we verified them, and we say what each price includes and whether sales tax is part of it. When we can’t support a number, we explain what drives the price instead of guessing.
Pages about a specific province or city use data from that place, such as local installer prices, the gas or electricity rates of the local utility and local climate data. We don’t scale a national average to fake a local figure.
How we write and check
- Sources first. We write from sources we have read, and we link to official sources, such as government and regulator pages, wherever a reader would want to check them.
- No invented facts. We don’t publish a specification, price, rule or rate that we couldn’t trace to a source. If we aren’t sure, we leave it out.
- Plain language. We explain technical terms the first time they appear, and we use the units and ratings Canadian homeowners see on quotes and equipment labels.
- Dated figures. Prices, energy rates and incentives change, so we show when a figure was last verified and recheck our ranges every quarter.
Our independence
No installer, manufacturer, retailer, utility or rental company pays to appear on this site, to be mentioned favourably or to influence a price range. We don’t recommend specific contractors or brands as “the best” for your home, and we don’t rank businesses.
Know Your Quote earns money from advertising shown on the site. Advertisers have no input into what we write, and ads are never presented as editorial content. If we ever add links that pay us a commission, we will say so clearly, in plain language, on the pages where they appear and in a dedicated disclosure page.
Rebates and incentives
Government and utility programs change often. When we mention one, we give the date we checked it and link to the official program page. We don’t treat a rebate as a guaranteed discount, and we don’t subtract it from our price ranges.
Who writes and checks our pages
Our pages are researched and edited by Gabriel Reyes, who is responsible for what we publish. You can read more about him on our about page. Each guide says who researched and edited it and when it was last reviewed. If a licensed specialist reviews a page, we name them and say what they reviewed.
We use software tools, including AI-assisted tools, to help with research and drafting. Before a page goes live, Gabriel checks every price, source and claim against its source. The responsibility for what appears on this site stays with us.
Corrections
If we publish something wrong, we fix it and update the date on the page. If the mistake changes how a reader would use the page, such as a wrong price range or a rule that has changed, we note the correction on the page instead of changing it silently.
The limits of our guides
Our guides are general information, not professional advice. We aren’t contractors, engineers, energy auditors, lawyers or financial advisers, and a price range isn’t a quote for your home. Before you make a decision about your home, get written quotes from licensed contractors in your area. For more on how we use and limit our content, see our terms of use.