A Gradient syncFURNACE Tankless carries ten years on the heat exchanger and five years on the
burner, pumps, valves, controller and motors, with both periods also capped by operating hours.
Registering the unit within sixty days of installation extends that five year parts coverage to
ten. All of the coverage is granted on one condition, repeated in every paragraph of the policy:
that regular maintenance is carried out and documented in accordance with the product manual.
Gradient’s claims terms require the service records. This page sets out what the documents
actually say, in their own words, including the parts most owners are never told about.
First, which document applies to you
Gradient publishes different warranty documents for different products, and they are not the same.
| Your unit | Warranty document | Applies to product manufactured after |
|---|---|---|
| syncFURNACE Tankless: sFT-202, sFT-201, mOD-200 | Part No. 111251 R04 | 1 May 2025 |
| syncFURNACE Boiler, GCx boiler | Part No. 110186 R05 | 1 October 2019 |
| tFC fan coil | Part No. 110698 R01 | see document |
That last column matters and almost nobody mentions it. These are the revisions Gradient
publishes today. If your unit was manufactured before the date shown, the terms that apply to it
are the ones in the revision that shipped with it, which may differ. If you still have the
paperwork that came with the house, keep it, because for an older unit that document is your
warranty, not the one on the website today.
What is covered, and for how long
syncFURNACE Tankless
Five years on the “Product burner, pump(s), valve(s), controller, motor(s) and other standard
equipment”, from the Original Date of Installation, “provided regular maintenance is carried out
and documented in accordance with the Product manual(s)”.
Ten years on the heat exchanger, for defects in material and workmanship resulting in a
leak, on the same maintenance condition.
Both periods have an hours cap, and this is stated in the document’s own footnotes:
“* FIVE (5) YEARS or 7,500 operation hours, whichever occurs first.”
“** TEN (10) YEARS or 15,000 operation hours, whichever occurs first.”
A combination appliance makes your hot water as well as your heat, so it runs in July as well as
January. Hours accumulate faster on one of these than on a furnace that sits idle all summer. We
have never seen Gradient enforce the hours cap, and we are not suggesting they go looking for it,
but you should know the number is in the contract.
syncFURNACE Boiler and GCx
Five years on components and ten years on the pressure vessel for a defect resulting in a
leak, on the same documented maintenance condition. The boiler and GCx document contains no
registration extension at all. There is no sixty day window to miss, and no hours cap in the
document.
The registration window, and why we will not promise you something we cannot deliver
This is the correction that matters most, and it is the reason this page was rewritten.
Gradient’s website says, in effect, that registering your product doubles your parts coverage. The
contract says something narrower:
“If the Certified Contractor or Original Owner registers the Product with Gradient in accordance
with the GRADIENT PRODUCT REGISTRATION PROCEDURE … within SIXTY (60) DAYS from the Original
Date of Installation, Gradient will extend the coverage defined in the LIMITED FIVE (5) YEAR
WARRANTY COVERAGE by an additional FIVE (5) YEARS.”
Sixty days from installation. If your unit went in two years ago and nobody registered it, that
window closed long before you read this, and any company telling you they can register it now and
get you ten years of parts coverage is telling you something the contract does not support.
Two more conditions on that same clause:
- The extension is for a residential installation.
- It is not available if the unit was used to provide temporary construction heat, which the
product manual defines in its appendix. On a new build that is worth asking your builder about,
because using the permanent heating appliance to heat the house while it is being finished is
common practice.
What we do instead. On a unit we install, we register it as part of the job, inside the window,
and you get the extension. On a unit that is already in your house, we will check whether it was
ever registered, tell you honestly what coverage you actually have, and make sure the maintenance
documentation from here forward is complete. That second thing is worth more than the first,
because the documentation condition applies to every year of the coverage you do have.
To register, or to check registration, Gradient’s own procedure is the “Product Registration” link
on gradientthermal.com, or an email to info@gradientthermal.com with the model number, serial
number, date of installation, installation address, owner name, phone and email, and the installing
contractor’s name and phone. Note that Gradient’s shortcut link at /registration currently
returns a 404, which is very likely why so many Calgary units were never registered.
The condition every paragraph repeats
The header of the policy, in capitals:
“FAILURE TO INSTALL AND MAINTAIN PRODUCT AS PER THE REQUIREMENTS LISTED IN THE PRODUCT MANUAL
WILL VOID THIS WARRANTY”
The conditions clause:
“The specific rights in the Warranty shall be conditional upon: (a) the proper installation of
the Product by a licensed mechanical contractor whose principal occupation is the installation of
heating and/or plumbing equipment and who is properly certified and trained under all relevant or
applicable laws of the local jurisdiction in which the Product is installed (the “Certified
Contractor”); and (b) proper operation and maintenance by a Certified Contractor in accordance
with the Product Maintenance Intervals.”
And the claims requirement:
“The Product must have been properly maintained during the Warranty period and in the intervals
in accordance with the Product manual(s). Service records and support documentation is required
to support maintenance claims.“
The manual contains the document Gradient is asking for: Appendix E, the Annual Inspection and
Maintenance Record. We complete it on every visit and leave it with you. Photograph it and keep
it with your house documents.
The five things owners are never told
None of this is hidden. It is all in the policy. It is simply that nobody reads a warranty until
they need it, and by then the useful moment has passed.
1. Labour is not covered. Parts are.
“Gradient will not cover any costs whatsoever involved in diagnostic and/or examination calls, or
in removing, repairing, servicing, or replacing allegedly defective and actual defective
components. This includes any costs associated with transportation/shipping components to and
from Gradient’s facilities.”
So a ten year heat exchanger warranty means Gradient supplies a heat exchanger. Getting the old one
out and the new one in is yours. That is normal for this industry and it is not a criticism of
Gradient, but it changes what the word “warranty” should mean to you when you are budgeting.
2. You have seventy two hours.
“The obligations of Gradient under this Warranty apply only to Product installations where
Gradient has been notified of the alleged defect or deficiency within SEVENTY-TWO (72) HOURS from
the occurrence or discovery of the alleged defect or deficiency.”
If something fails, the clock starts when you discover it. Tell us and we will notify Gradient the
same day. Do not sit on it for a fortnight over Christmas.
3. It does not transfer with the house.
The warranty is “provided … for the benefit of ONLY the first purchaser at retail (the “Original
Owner”) of the Product on ONLY the Original Site of Installation”, and:
“The Warranty herein provided is not assignable.”
If you bought a house with a Gradient already in it, you are not the Original Owner. That is worth
knowing before you rely on coverage that may not be yours, and it is worth knowing if you are
selling, because it is not a selling point you can honestly make.
4. Renting the property changes it. A “non-residential, residential rental property or … a
commercial, industrial or institutional environment” is a COMMERCIAL INSTALLATION under this
policy, and the heat exchanger coverage there is five years, not ten. If a residential
installation is later converted to commercial use, the policy says the reduction “will take effect
immediately upon conversion without further notice”. If you are turning a home into a rental, or
running a business from it, read that clause.
5. Some components are simply not covered.
“EXCLUDED COMPONENTS – The following components are not covered by the Warranty: Sheetmetal
Cabinet Parts, Combustion Chamber Linings/Insulation, Cabinet Insulation, Gaskets, O-rings, Air
Filters, Fuses and Surge Protection Devices.”
Where water quality meets your warranty, which is the Calgary part
Two exclusions in the policy point straight at hard water:
“Any damage or failure due to or caused by poor water quality and where the quality of the water
used in the Product does not meet the Water Quality Requirements as defined in the Product
manual(s).”
and, in the list of excluded causes, “water conditions which may have caused unusual deposits
within the water side and heat exchanger combustion area of the pressure vessel”.
Calgary’s water is hard. In the southeast it is the harder of the city’s two supplies. Scale is
exactly the “unusual deposit” that clause describes, and the annual water system flush and descale
that Gradient asks for is exactly what prevents it.
So the flush is not an upsell. It is the maintenance item that keeps the most expensive part of
your warranty defensible, and it is the item a conventional furnace tune up does not include,
because a conventional furnace has no water side.
There is one more, easy to miss: the policy excludes damage from “operation of a mOD / sFT without
a high-velocity filter installed on the return air duct as per the Product manual(s)”. Running the
unit without the correct filter is a warranty problem as well as a comfort one.
See filter sizes by model.
Who is allowed to do the work
The policy defines a Certified Contractor as a licensed mechanical contractor whose principal
occupation is installing heating and plumbing equipment, properly certified and trained under local
law. Two things follow.
It is not restricted to Gradient’s dealer list. The document does not say that, and we are not
going to imply it. Any properly licensed mechanical contractor meets the definition.
It does rule out unlicensed work. A handyman or a general maintenance service does not meet it,
and on a gas appliance that is a safety question before it is a warranty question.
Desmond Neufeld holds Red Seal Journeyman Plumber and Certified Type B Gasfitter
certification, which meets that definition today.
What we will not tell you
We will not tell you that using a non dealer voids your warranty. The contract does not say
that.
We will not tell you that you have already lost your coverage. We have no way of knowing, and
for most owners it is not true.
We will not suggest Gradient is looking for a reason to refuse claims. We have seen no evidence
of it. The point of this page is that you should hold the records and know the terms, not that the
manufacturer is out to get you.
If your home is new
- Register it inside sixty days of installation, or make sure whoever installed it did. This
is the one deadline on this page that cannot be recovered later. - Ask whether the unit was used for construction heat while the house was being finished. If
it was, the extended coverage may not be available, and you are better off knowing. - Find the Original Date of Installation. The warranty runs from the date the product was
installed, not from your possession date, and on a new build those are months apart. If the date
cannot be verified, the policy deems it to be thirty days after the unit shipped. - Understand which warranty is which. Alberta new home warranty covers the building. This one
covers the appliance, on its own terms and timeline. - Start the record now. Even on a unit that has never been touched, the documentation from
this point forward is what you will have if you ever need it.
If you live in a townhome, the same installation dates most likely apply to your whole row. See
Gradient service in tight closets and townhomes.
Getting it checked
A Gradient warranty check is free. We confirm your model and serial from the rating plate, work
out which warranty document governs your unit and when the periods started, check whether it was
registered, tell you plainly what coverage you have and what it excludes, and leave you the
Appendix E record form. No charge and no obligation.
Call 403-404-9975.
Frequently asked questions
How long is the Gradient syncFURNACE warranty?
On the current Tankless policy, ten years on the heat exchanger for a defect resulting in a leak, and five years on the burner, pumps, valves, controller and motors. Both are also capped by operating hours: five years or 7,500 hours, and ten years or 15,000 hours, whichever comes first. Registering the unit within sixty days of installation extends the five year parts coverage to ten. The syncFURNACE Boiler and GCx carry five years on components and ten on the pressure vessel, with no hours cap and no registration extension.
Does skipping maintenance void a Gradient warranty?
Gradient’s warranty grants coverage “provided regular maintenance is carried out and documented in accordance with the Product manual(s)”, and its claims terms state that service records and support documentation are required to support a maintenance claim. So both the work and the record matter. A unit with no service history has weaker protection than one with a complete record.
Can I still register my Gradient to get the ten year parts warranty?
Only if it was installed within the last sixty days. The policy extends the five year parts coverage by another five years if the product is registered “within SIXTY (60) DAYS from the Original Date of Installation”. After that the window has closed. Anyone offering to register a two year old unit and get you ten years of parts coverage is promising something the contract does not support.
Does the Gradient warranty transfer when I sell my house?
No. The policy is for the benefit of the first purchaser at retail on the original site of installation only, and it states that the warranty “is not assignable”. If you bought a home with a Gradient already installed, you are not the Original Owner under that document.
Does the warranty cover labour?
No. Gradient supplies covered parts. The policy states that Gradient will not cover any costs involved in diagnostic or examination calls, or in removing, repairing, servicing or replacing components, including shipping. So a ten year heat exchanger warranty means a heat exchanger, not a free repair.
How quickly do I have to report a problem?
Within seventy two hours of the occurrence or discovery of the defect. That is a hard requirement in the policy, and it is the one most likely to catch an owner out over a holiday weekend. Tell us and we notify Gradient the same day.
Is my warranty different because my home is rented?
Yes. A residential rental property is treated as a COMMERCIAL INSTALLATION under the policy, and the heat exchanger coverage there is five years rather than ten. Converting a home from residential to commercial use reduces the coverage immediately and without notice.
What records do I need for a Gradient warranty claim?
Service records and support documentation for the maintenance performed in the required intervals. Gradient’s manual includes an Appendix E Annual Inspection and Maintenance Record, which is the form the manufacturer is asking for. We complete it on every visit and leave it with you.
Who is allowed to service a Gradient and keep the warranty valid?
The policy requires a Certified Contractor, defined as a licensed mechanical contractor whose principal occupation is installing heating and plumbing equipment, certified under local law. That is broader than any published dealer list, but it excludes unlicensed work.
Is the builder’s warranty the same as the furnace warranty?
No. Alberta new home warranty covers the building. The equipment warranty is the manufacturer’s, with its own terms, timeline and conditions. They are separate documents with separate obligations.
Written by Desmond Neufeld, Red Seal Journeyman Plumber and Certified Type B Gasfitter. Last updated 23 August 2026.
