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Living with a floor furnace — and what replaces it
Floor furnaces sit under a metal grate in the floor, usually in a hallway. Many post-war Hayward homes still have one.
The grate gets hot enough to burn. Keep children, pets, rugs and furniture off and away from it while the heat is on. If you smell gas, leave the house and call your gas utility or 911 from outside.
How it works
A gas burner under the floor heats a metal box. Warm air rises through the centre of the grate and cooler room air drops back down around the edges — no ducts and no fan in most older units. It warms the hallway well and the far rooms much less.
Call the office
Uneven heat
Warm hallway, cold bedrooms — the design, not a fault.
Pilot or burner trouble
Older units may have simpler safety controls than modern furnaces and parts can be hard to find.
Dust and smells
Things dropped through the grate collect on the unit and burn off.
Venting and access
Everything starts with a phone call. Describe what the system is doing and where the building is, and we will tell you what we would look at. We cover Hayward and the surrounding area.
The usual options
Service and keep it
Cleaning, safety checks and repairs where parts exist. Lowest cost; heat only.
Ductless heat pump
One or more wall units that heat and cool. No ducts, no grate, quick install.
New ducted system
A furnace or heat pump with ducts in the crawlspace or attic. Most even heat, biggest job.