Service
Furnace Installation and Replacement in Ferndale, MI
Replacing a furnace that has reached the end, sized for the house it is actually going into.
Replacing a furnace is mostly a sizing and venting decision, and it is worth getting right, because the consequences last twenty years. Beyer is an authorized Trane dealer and installs furnaces across south Oakland County.
What this covers
- Full furnace replacement, including removal and disposal of the old unit
- High-efficiency condensing furnace installation, including the new venting and condensate drain those require
- Standard-efficiency replacement where the venting or the budget makes that the better call
- Sizing based on the house, not on whatever was there before
- Ductwork and return-air corrections identified during the quote
- Thermostat replacement as part of the install
Signs it is time to replace rather than repair
- The unit is past twenty years and you have called for a repair more than once in two seasons.
- A technician has identified a cracked heat exchanger.
- Parts for your model have become hard to source, which happens quickly once a line is discontinued.
- The quoted repair is a significant fraction of what a replacement costs.
- Rooms are unevenly heated in a way that traces back to a furnace that was never the right size for the house.
Sizing is the part that matters
The most common mistake in furnace replacement is to look at the plate on the old unit and order the same number. Houses change. Insulation gets added, windows get replaced, attics get finished, additions go on. A furnace sized for the house as it was in 1978 is often wrong for the house as it stands now, and it is usually wrong in the direction of too big.
An oversized furnace does not heat a house better. It heats it in short bursts, which means it short cycles, wears its ignition components out faster, and leaves the rooms furthest from the unit cold because the blower never runs long enough to move air out to them. Correct sizing comes from a load calculation on the actual house.
The second decision is efficiency, and it is not automatic. A condensing high-efficiency furnace vents differently, through PVC out a sidewall rather than up the existing chimney, and it produces condensate that has to drain somewhere. In a prewar house on a tight lot, where that sidewall termination can go is a real constraint. Sometimes the high-efficiency unit is clearly right. Sometimes the venting situation makes a standard-efficiency replacement the more sensible install. That is a conversation to have before anyone orders equipment.
Ferndale, Royal Oak, Berkley, Oak Park, Madison Heights, and the rest of the south end of Oakland County. The shop has been at the same Nine Mile address for three generations, which is the short answer to how far we travel.
Furnace installation: common questions
How long does a furnace replacement take?
A straight swap, where the new unit vents the same way as the old one, is typically a single day. Converting from a chimney-vented furnace to a high-efficiency condensing unit takes longer, because it adds new sidewall venting and a condensate drain. If ductwork or return-air corrections are part of the job, that adds time as well.
What size furnace do I need?
It comes from a load calculation on your house: square footage, insulation, window area and type, ceiling heights, and orientation. It should not be copied off the old unit's data plate, because the house has almost certainly changed since that unit was installed, and because oversizing was extremely common in older installs.
Is a high-efficiency furnace always the better choice?
Not always. A condensing furnace uses less gas, and over a Michigan heating season that adds up. But it has to vent through a sidewall rather than the chimney, and it needs a condensate drain. On a narrow lot with close setbacks, the venting options can be genuinely limited. The right answer depends on the house.
What brands do you install?
Beyer is an authorized Trane dealer. Trane's own dealer directory lists the Ferndale shop, and that listing is linked from our homepage so you can confirm it independently.