HVAC Installation & Replacement in Livonia, Michigan

Replacing a furnace and air conditioner in Livonia starts with a question we take seriously: does it actually need replacing? Temprasure is an owner-operated shop out of Ypsilanti, about 30 minutes from Livonia, and Al has talked more than a few Wayne County homeowners out of a system replacement someone else had already sold them. When the equipment in your 1950s–70s brick ranches, colonials and tri-levels home really is at the end, the estimate is free, the sizing is done with a Manual J calculation on your actual house, and the install is done by the person who quoted it. We pull the permit with Wayne County or the local building department, meet the inspector, and commission the system with real readings before we leave Old Rosedale Gardens.

Livonia houses and what that means for hvac installation

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.

Sizing a new system in Livonia is where the housing age matters most. The 1950s–70s brick ranches, colonials and tri-levels that fill Old Rosedale Gardens were built with single-pane windows and little insulation, and the original furnace was sized for that. Most of those houses have since had windows, attic insulation and air sealing done, so the heating load is a fraction of what it was, and matching the old furnace's capacity puts an oversized unit in the basement that short-cycles and never runs long enough to move air evenly. On every Livonia install we run a Manual J calculation against the house as it is today, with the Wayne County design temperatures, and we show you the result. The furnace we recommend is often smaller than the one coming out, and it heats the house better.

Our trucks are in Livonia most weeks, because Wayne County is where a large share of our work is and 48150 is a short run from Ypsilanti. The 1950s–70s brick ranches, colonials and tri-levels that line the streets near Quakertown and Laurel Park Place have usually been through two or three furnaces and at least one air conditioner, often installed by different companies with different ideas about ductwork, and sorting that out is what a whole-system visit is for. We check the furnace, the coil, the condenser, the thermostat and the ducts as one system, because in a Livonia house they fail as one system.

Local details we plan around in Livonia

• 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.
• Finished basements with the furnace in a closet often have no combustion air provision at all, and we address that before anything else on a replacement.
• 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.