Mid-efficiency furnaces are being phased out in Ontario. After 2009, these will no longer be available. While high-efficiency systems are great, they can be difficult to install in some homes, due to venting requirements.  Mid-efficiency furnaces are less complex and less expensive than high-efficiency furnaces. Replacement of an older conventional or mid-efficiency furnace in 2009 with a new mid-efficiency may make sense for many homeowners.

Here’s an interesting perspective on a good home inspector from a financial guy.
http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=995130

There are some points to take from this:

1. Tools may be useful, but experience is irreplaceable.
2. If you don’t feel the need to impress, that’s impressive.
3. If you communicate with clients like you care, they notice and appreciate.
4. Simple comprehensible language is the only language we should speak.
5. Knowing your limitations is impressive itself.

This old saying has some relevance in the world of home inspection.  It means you shouldn’t get rid of something valuable while getting rid of something worthless.  It’s a problem for home inspectors, because if we make one little mistake in our report, it throws our whole credibility into question.  People often dismiss an entire inspection report because of one error.  It’s not necessarily fair, but people wonder where else you messed up.  We need to be really careful, and we need to stay within our scope when writing reports to reduce the risk of errors.

Sometimes issues are raised in the media that are of considerable concern to our clients.  A lot of times, we don’t have any particular problem with these issues, but need to recognize that our clients may be concerned and need good information.  This may include things like urea formaldehyde foam insulation, vermiculite insulation that contains asbestos, aluminum wiring, radon, knob and tube electrical wiring, and so on.  The way we like to address these issues is to find authoritative sources that can be quoted to refute a media buzz that has created an issue for consumers.  We try not to be dismissive of the issue, but help the client put it in perspective.  In some cases, we don’t believe it’s any problem at all; in other cases, we point out how it can be dealt with easily and inexpensively.