Furnace Repair in Livonia, Michigan

Temprasure has fixed a lot of furnaces in Livonia, MI that another company said were done. Not because the other company was lying, but because a furnace that will not stay lit looks terrifying to a homeowner and a quick replacement quote is easy to write. We diagnose with a manometer, a meter and a combustion analyzer, inspect the heat exchanger on every Livonia call, and tell you exactly what failed. For Wayne County homes on DTE Energy gas, that usually means a repair in the low hundreds and a furnace that runs another five winters.

Livonia houses and what that means for furnace repair

Livonia's housing is the biggest block of 1950s through 1970s construction in our radius, and we see every variation of it. The 1950s brick ranches between Joy Road and Five Mile are on full block basements with a single-return furnace and a center trunk, typically on their second or third furnace with a condenser added in the 80s or 90s. The tri-levels and quad-levels from the 1960s, common between Five and Seven Mile, have a lower level that never gets enough air and a bedroom level that overheats in summer. The 1970s colonials in the northwest toward Eight Mile and Newburgh are larger, with longer duct runs and two-and-a-half to three-ton condensers that are often oversized. Rosedale Gardens is the exception: 1920s and 30s Tudors with Michigan basements, retrofitted duct and occasionally a boiler. Finished basements are nearly universal, and the furnace is frequently boxed into a closet that limits combustion air and filter access. Electrical service is 100 amps on most pre-1975 houses.

High-efficiency furnaces in Livonia have a winter problem that 80 percent units never did: they make water. A 90-plus percent furnace condenses several gallons a day out of its exhaust, and that condensate has to drain through a trap, a line and usually a pump to get out of the basement. In the Livonia, MI homes near Idyl Wyld Golf Course where that line runs through an unheated corner or out through a wall, it freezes during a cold snap, the pressure switch opens, and the furnace shuts down on the coldest night of the year. The exterior PVC vent can ice over the same way. We thaw it, clear it and then fix the routing or pitch so it does not happen again in February.

Heating calls from Livonia come in two waves: the first real cold night in November and whatever stretch of January the polar vortex decides to visit. Both times we are 30 minutes away with ignitors, flame sensors, pressure switches and inducer motors on the truck. The 1950s–70s brick ranches, colonials and tri-levels around Idyl Wyld and the Seven Mile and Farmington Road area mostly burn DTE Energy natural gas, and the furnaces in them are old enough that a heat exchanger inspection is part of every visit, not an upsell. Near Rotary Park and out toward Old Rosedale Gardens, we also see high-efficiency furnaces whose exterior vents ice over in a storm, which looks like a dead furnace and is a ten-minute fix.

Local details we plan around in Livonia

• Livonia water is Detroit-system supply, so water heater failures here are driven by age and the sheer number of tanks that are past 15 years.
• Livonia's inspection department requires mechanical permits for furnace, AC and water heater replacements and is known for thorough final inspections, including checking gas line sizing and venting.
• Rosedale Gardens has historic district guidelines that affect exterior equipment placement on the 1920s and 30s houses.
• Livonia is flat and almost entirely built out, with mature street trees on the older blocks that give shade in summer but drop leaves into condensers every fall. The Middle Rouge through Hines Park and Bell Creek and Tarabusi Creek through the middle of the city create damp pockets, and basements near those drains need dehumidification in summer. Winter is freeze-thaw cycling with the full effect of polar vortex nights on 70-year-old brick with minimal insulation.