Commerce Township, Michigan
Furnace Repair in Commerce Township, Michigan
Commerce started out as a resort. A lot of its houses did too — and that history is still sitting in the basement.
Quick answer
Kern Mechanical repairs furnaces across Commerce Township — Commerce Village, Union Lake, Oakley Park, Glengary and the Wolverine Lake area. Call 248-714-6563. No-heat calls go to the front of the queue during business hours, Monday through Saturday, 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM. We service every major furnace brand, and you will have the diagnosis and the price before any work starts.
The cottage problem
Commerce was a resort destination long before it was a suburb. People came out from Detroit for the summer, and a great many of the homes around Union Lake, Wolverine Lake and the smaller lakes started life as seasonal cottages.
Then they were winterized. Sometimes carefully. Sometimes over a weekend in 1974.
That history shows up in the heating. A cottage that was never meant to hold heat in February gets a furnace added, then an addition, then a finished basement, and the system ends up doing a job it was never sized for. We see undersized returns, duct runs squeezed through crawl spaces, supply registers in rooms that used to be porches, and furnaces short-cycling because the house cannot absorb the air they are pushing. None of that is the furnace's fault, and replacing the furnace on its own rarely fixes it.
And then Commerce filled in
The township grew from roughly thirty-five thousand people in 2000 to over forty-three thousand by 2020, and most of that arrived as subdivision building. Those newer homes have the opposite problem list: high-efficiency condensing furnaces with PVC intake and exhaust that ice over in a hard freeze, condensate lines that clog or freeze and shut the unit down on a safety, and pressure switches tripping for reasons that have nothing to do with the burners.
Two housing stocks in one township, and two completely different call types.
Where we work in Commerce
Commerce Village at Commerce and Sleeth, Union Lake, Oakley Park, Glengary, the Wolverine Lake area, and the neighborhoods along the Huron River toward Proud Lake.
Lake houses, damp basements and what they do to a furnace
Homes on and near Union Lake, Wolverine Lake and the smaller lakes in the township share one thing: moisture. Basements near the water run damp, and damp air is hard on furnaces. We see rust on burners and cabinet floors, corroded electrical connections, and blower housings that have taken years of humid air. None of that is unusual for a lake house, but it does mean the furnace deserves a closer look at its annual tune-up, and that a dehumidifier in the basement often protects the furnace as much as it protects the house.
Crawl spaces and converted cottages
Where a cottage has been winterized, the ductwork is often the weakest part of the system. Duct runs squeezed through crawl spaces lose heat before it ever reaches the rooms, and uninsulated runs over cold ground can turn a perfectly good furnace into one that cannot keep up in January. Sealing and insulating the runs that are accessible is often worth more than a bigger furnace. If one end of your house is always colder than the rest, our article on uneven heating explains how we track down the cause.
Newer subdivisions and winter venting problems
In the newer neighborhoods, the call we get most in a cold snap is a high-efficiency furnace that has shut itself down. Usually it is not the furnace at all. Snow drifting over the PVC intake and exhaust, ice building at the termination, or a condensate line that has frozen will all trip a safety and stop the heat. Clear the pipes outside gently by hand after a heavy snow. If you also see water around the furnace, our guide to why a furnace leaks water explains what is happening.
What a diagnostic visit covers
We check the ignition sequence, flame sensor, safety switches, blower, filter and return air, venting and heat exchanger, and on condensing furnaces the condensate trap and drain. You get the diagnosis and the price before any work starts. If the furnace is near the end of its life, we will say so, and our furnace installation page explains how we size a replacement to the house.
Common furnace faults
The underlying fault list does not change with the house. Our main furnace repair page walks through the eight problems we see most.
Frequently Asked Questions
My house started out as a cottage. Does that actually matter for the furnace?
It matters a great deal. Seasonal cottages were not built to hold heat through a Michigan February, and the heating usually got added in stages rather than designed once. Returns, duct sizing and register placement are where the problem normally lives, not in the furnace.
My furnace short-cycles and nobody can tell me why.
In an older converted home it is frequently not a furnace fault at all. A furnace that cannot move the air it produces will shut itself down and restart, over and over. That is a ductwork and return air question, and it is measurable.
My high-efficiency furnace quit during the cold snap. What happened?
Most often the intake or exhaust iced over, or a condensate line froze and tripped a safety. The furnace was doing what it is designed to do. It still needs looking at before it happens again.
Do you work around the lakes?
Yes — Union Lake, Wolverine Lake, Commerce Village, Oakley Park, Glengary and the smaller lakes in between.
Is it worth repairing the furnace in an older lake home?
Often yes. Age alone is not the deciding factor — the repair cost against the replacement cost is.
How fast can you get out on a no-heat call?
No-heat calls go to the front of the queue. Call 248-714-6563 during business hours — Monday through Saturday, 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM.
Do you charge for a quote?
No. Quotes are always free, and you will have the price before anything starts.
Why does my lake house furnace rust so quickly?
Basements near the water run damp, and humid air corrodes burners, cabinet floors and electrical connections over time. An annual tune-up catches the damage early, and running a basement dehumidifier helps protect the furnace.
Emergency service available
Heat out? Cooling down? Call us now.
Whether it is a planned replacement or an emergency HVAC repair, Kern Mechanical is available to handle all of your heating, cooling, and ventilation needs.