HVAC Installation & Replacement in Whittaker, Michigan

The subdivisions and older blocks of Whittaker are full of systems that went in all at once and are reaching the end all at once. Builder-grade furnaces and condensers installed in the 1970s–90s rural ranches and 2000s acreage homes around an old crossroads around the Whittaker crossroads at Whittaker and Willis Roads tend to fail within a few years of each other, which is why HVAC installation in Whittaker is a steady part of our work. What we do differently than the larger outfits in Washtenaw County is simple: no sales team, no same-day-only pricing, a load calculation instead of a nameplate match, and the owner on the install. A new system in 48190 from Temprasure is sized for the house, permitted, inspected and commissioned, and it comes with a free estimate that you can sit on as long as you want.

Whittaker houses and what that means for hvac installation

Around the crossroads itself the houses are 1880s–1930s farm-village homes with Michigan basements, balloon framing and a forced-air system that was retrofitted into a house built for a wood or coal stove. Those homes tend to have a single undersized return and a furnace that has been replaced two or three times without the ductwork ever being touched. Along Whittaker, Willis and Talladay Roads the common house is a 1970s–90s ranch or raised ranch on a crawlspace or block basement, with the original furnace in a utility room and a condenser that was added in the 1990s on whatever circuit was available. The 2000s subdivisions between Bemis and Willis Roads are colonials and ranches on poured basements with builder-grade equipment that is reaching replacement age, and a lot of them run propane rather than gas. Manufactured homes and modulars on the side roads often have small downflow furnaces and package units that need parts most shops do not stock.

Venting is the second thing we look at hard in Whittaker. 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 1970s–90s rural ranches and 2000s acreage homes around an old crossroads common near Augusta Township Hall, 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. Whittaker homes on DTE Energy 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 a few hundred at the crossroads, with a few thousand using the Whittaker address residents and housing that runs from the 1970s–90s rural ranches and 2000s acreage homes around an old crossroads around Stony Creek Road to the newer streets near Talladay Road area, Whittaker keeps us busy year-round. The equipment is on DTE Energy for heat and DTE Energy for cooling, the basements near the Whittaker Post Office 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 9 miles away, we service every brand, and we quote a flat rate before we start.

Local details we plan around in Whittaker

• Septic drain fields are universal, so we keep high-efficiency furnace condensate out of the septic line with a neutralizer or a separate discharge.
• Every home in Whittaker is on a private well, and the water is hard with enough iron to shorten water heater life and clog humidifier pads within a season.
• Crawlspace ductwork on the 1970s ranches here is frequently rusted, disconnected or chewed, and we check it on every furnace call before we blame the equipment.
• Whittaker is on flat, open ground with Stony Creek running through the low land to the north and east, and the creek bottom holds moisture that keeps nearby crawlspaces damp through late spring. There is almost no windbreak between the crossroads and the fields to the west, so winter wind hits the exposed side of every house. Summer is humid and still, and homes without mature shade trees run their air conditioning longer than their size would suggest.