HVAC Installation & Replacement in Chelsea, Michigan

Temprasure installs furnaces, air conditioners and heat pumps across Washtenaw County, and Chelsea is roughly 36 minutes from our shop on Lakeridge Drive in Ypsilanti. We know the housing here. The 1890s–1920s village homes and 1990s–2010s subdivisions on the edges around M-52 north of town usually need the venting and return air looked at before a new high-efficiency furnace goes in, and the newer builds in 48118 usually have ductwork that was never sealed and a condenser pad that has settled. A new system from us accounts for those things in the estimate instead of discovering them on install day, and the estimate is free, written, and good for a long time.

Chelsea houses and what that means for hvac installation

The in-town housing is dominated by 1890s–1940s two-stories, foursquares and bungalows on fieldstone or early block basements with plaster walls and ductwork retrofitted into a house that was designed for a coal furnace or stoves. Flues in these homes are often unlined brick, and we see a lot of 80 percent furnaces that have been venting into a chimney that should have been relined years ago. The post-war ring along McKinley Street and Freer Road is 1950s–70s ranches and capes, some on slabs, with electric baseboard still present in a few. Chelsea Fairways, Heritage Pointe and the other 1990s–2010s subdivisions are colonials and ranches on full basements with builder-grade 80 percent furnaces and single-stage air conditioners that are now hitting replacement age. Outside the city on Werkner, Waterloo and Cavanaugh Lake Roads, we see lakefront cottages that were winterized, farmhouses with multiple additions, and newer acreage homes on propane and well water.

Venting is the second thing we look at hard in Chelsea. A high-efficiency condensing furnace vents through the side wall in PVC, which frees up the masonry chimney that an older 80% furnace shared with the water heater. In the 1890s–1920s village homes and 1990s–2010s subdivisions on the edges common near the Jiffy Mix plant, that leaves a 40-gallon atmospheric water heater alone on a chimney that is now too large for it, and the flue gases can condense and eat the liner. We address that on the estimate, either with a chimney liner sized for the water heater or by talking through a power-vent water heater at the same time. Chelsea homes on Consumers Energy in much of the city, DTE Energy on some outlying roads gas also get the gas line pressure-tested and the drip leg and shutoff brought up to current code as part of the install.

With about 5,500, serving a rural area of roughly 15,000 residents and housing that runs from the 1890s–1920s village homes and 1990s–2010s subdivisions on the edges around Old US-12 corridor to the newer streets near Dexter-Chelsea Road corridor, Chelsea keeps us busy year-round. The equipment is on Consumers Energy for heat and Consumers Energy in much of the city, DTE Energy on some outlying roads for cooling, the basements near the Chelsea Clock Tower are prone to the same moisture issues as the rest of Washtenaw County, and the ductwork in a lot of these houses was never sized for the air conditioner that was bolted on later. We are 25 miles away, we service every brand, and we quote a flat rate before we start.

Local details we plan around in Chelsea

• Electric service is split between Consumers Energy and DTE depending on the exact address, and homes just outside town may be on one for gas and the other for electric.
• Outside the city limits, propane furnaces and water heaters are routine, and propane conversions and regulator problems are a normal part of our Chelsea calls.
• Chelsea is in Consumers Energy gas territory rather than DTE, which matters for rebate programs and for who we call about a meter or service line issue.
• Chelsea is high and open compared with the river towns to the east, and it gets more wind and a bit more snow than Ypsilanti, with polar vortex nights that run a few degrees colder. The lakes in the Waterloo Recreation Area and around Cavanaugh Lake add summer humidity for the homes closest to them. Heavy tree cover downtown and on the older residential streets shades roofs in July, while the newer subdivisions on the east side have little mature canopy yet.