HVAC Installation & Replacement in Whitmore Lake, Michigan

Temprasure installs furnaces, air conditioners and heat pumps across Washtenaw County, and Whitmore Lake is roughly 26 minutes from our shop on Lakeridge Drive in Ypsilanti. We know the housing here. The 1920s–60s lake cottages converted to year-round homes, with 1990s–2010s subdivisions behind them around Barker Road corridor usually need the venting and return air looked at before a new high-efficiency furnace goes in, and the newer builds in 48189 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.

Whitmore Lake houses and what that means for hvac installation

Lakefront homes on East Shore Drive and along Whitmore Lake Road are the defining housing type: 1920s–60s cottages that were raised, expanded and insulated over the years, with furnaces in crawlspaces, half-basements or closets, ductwork routed through whatever chase was available, and water heaters wedged under stairs. Many have had a second floor added onto a frame that was built for one, and the ductwork rarely followed. Behind the lake, the older streets off Main Street hold 1940s–70s ranches and bungalows on crawlspaces, some of which started on fuel oil. The 1990s–2010s subdivisions off Barker, Spencer and Nine Mile Roads are colonials on full poured basements with builder-grade 80 percent furnaces, single-stage condensers and bypass humidifiers nearing replacement. Outlying homes on North Territorial and Six Mile are acreage builds and farmhouses on propane and wells. High water tables around both lakes keep below-grade equipment at risk.

Venting is the second thing we look at hard in Whitmore Lake. 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 1920s–60s lake cottages converted to year-round homes, with 1990s–2010s subdivisions behind them common near the Whitmore Lake public beach and boat launch, 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. Whitmore Lake 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 6,500 on the Whitmore Lake address, split between Northfield and Green Oak Townships residents and housing that runs from the 1920s–60s lake cottages converted to year-round homes, with 1990s–2010s subdivisions behind them around East Shore Drive to the newer streets near the Green Oak side north of the lake, Whitmore Lake keeps us busy year-round. The equipment is on DTE Energy on most of the Washtenaw side for heat and DTE Energy for cooling, the basements near Horseshoe Lake 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 18 miles away, we service every brand, and we quote a flat rate before we start.

Local details we plan around in Whitmore Lake

• DTE gas serves most of the Northfield side, but some Green Oak addresses are on Consumers Energy and outlying roads on either side run on propane.
• Lake cottages with crawlspaces that sit near the water table are the most common place we find rusted furnace cabinets, flooded condensate pumps and failed water heater bottoms.
• Septic serves most of the community, though a sewer system around the lake was added to protect water quality, and condensate routing depends on which a house is on.
• Whitmore Lake and Horseshoe Lake dominate the local weather for the homes around them: summer humidity is high, morning fog is common from May through October, and basements and crawlspaces near the shoreline rarely dry out. The lakes also moderate the first freezes slightly, but by January the open ice and surrounding fields let northwest wind blow across unbroken. Snow runs a bit heavier here than in Ypsilanti because of the slightly higher ground and the township's position farther from the Huron valley.