South Lyon, Michigan
Furnace Repair in South Lyon, Michigan
South Lyon built fast, twice. A lot of those furnaces are reaching the end of their lives at the same time.
Quick answer
Kern Mechanical repairs furnaces across South Lyon and the surrounding Lyon Township. 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.
Two building booms, one replacement wave
South Lyon has grown in bursts. The population nearly doubled through the 1970s, rose by another seventy percent through the 1990s, and the building has not really stopped since.
That history is now showing up as furnaces. A furnace installed in a 1995 subdivision is thirty years old. One from the 2004 build-out is past twenty. Both sit inside the window where a repair is often still worth doing but a replacement is worth discussing honestly — and a whole neighborhood tends to hit that window at once, which is why your neighbor has also had somebody out this winter.
We will tell you which side of that line your furnace is on. If it is a repair, we repair it.
Builder-grade is not an insult
Most of the equipment that went into those subdivisions was mid-range for its day and installed to a schedule. That is normal, and it is not a reason to rip anything out. It does mean predictable wear: blower motors and control boards in the twenty-year-old units, ignitors and flame sensors long before that, and duct layouts done quickly enough that the room over the garage was never going to be comfortable.
The older core
South Lyon started as Thompson's Corners in 1832, was a village by 1873 and a city by 1930. The older housing near the middle of town is a different animal from the subdivisions — smaller footprints, retrofit ductwork, and furnaces that have been swapped two or three times into a space that was not designed for any of them.
Where we work
The City of South Lyon and the surrounding Lyon Township, including the newer building on the edges of town and the older streets near the Huron Valley Rail Trail.
The room over the garage
If you live in one of South Lyon's subdivision homes, there is a good chance one room is never comfortable: the bonus room or bedroom over the garage. It has cold space below it, more exterior surface than any other room, and usually the longest duct run in the house. The furnace is not the problem, and a bigger one will not fix it. Sealing and insulating that duct run, adding or enlarging a return, balancing the dampers, and sometimes zoning are what actually help. Our article on why the upstairs is always cold explains how we track it down.
Condensing furnaces on the edges of town
The newer building on the edges of South Lyon and in Lyon Township is mostly high-efficiency condensing furnaces that vent through PVC out a side wall. In a hard freeze, the calls we get are almost always venting and drainage: snow or ice over the intake and exhaust, a frozen condensate line, or a pressure switch shutting the furnace down to protect it. Clear the pipes outside gently by hand after a heavy snow. If there is also water around the furnace, our guide to why a furnace leaks water explains the usual causes.
When the whole street is replacing furnaces
Because so many South Lyon homes were built in the same few years, a neighborhood tends to reach the end of its furnaces at about the same time. That is not a reason to replace a furnace that is still sound. It is a reason to plan, so you are making the decision in October rather than on the coldest night in January. When replacement is the right call, our furnace installation page explains how we size a new furnace to the house rather than simply matching the old one, which matters in builder-grade homes where the original furnace was often oversized.
What we check on a service call
We check the ignition sequence, flame sensor, safety switches, blower motor and control board, filter and return air path, venting and heat exchanger, and on condensing furnaces the condensate trap and drain. You get the diagnosis and the price before any work starts, and if a repair is the right answer, we repair it.
Common furnace faults
Whatever the age of the house, the fault list is short and familiar. Our main furnace repair page walks through the eight problems we see most.
Frequently Asked Questions
My furnace is about twenty-five years old and still running. Should I replace it?
Not on age alone. Age tells you to start paying attention, not to start spending. What matters is the cost of the repair in front of you against the cost of replacement, and whether the failures are becoming a pattern.
Everyone in my subdivision is replacing their furnace. Do I need to?
Not necessarily. Homes built in the same year got their furnaces in the same year, so they reach the same age together — but they were not all run, maintained or sized the same. Your neighbor's outcome is not a diagnosis of your furnace.
The room over the garage is always cold. Is that the furnace?
Almost never. Bonus rooms over garages lose heat on five surfaces instead of four and usually sit at the far end of an undersized duct run. It is a duct and insulation problem, and a bigger furnace will not solve it.
Do you cover Lyon Township as well as the city?
Yes, both.
My high-efficiency furnace shut itself off during the cold snap. What was that?
Most often the intake or exhaust icing over, or a condensate line freezing and tripping a safety. The furnace is doing what it is designed to do. It still needs looking at before it happens again.
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 is the room over my garage always cold?
It has cold space below it, more exposed surface than any other room, and usually the longest duct run in the house. Sealing and insulating that duct run, improving the return, and balancing the system usually help far more than a bigger 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.