Heating
Furnace Installation and Replacement in Oakland County
A new furnace should be sized to your house, matched to your ducts and set up to run for many winters. Our family-owned crew handles furnace installation from the first measurement to the final test, and you see the price before any work starts.
Tell us what it is doing. We will tell you straight what happens next.
- Family-owned, crew of four
- Price before work starts
- 100% satisfaction guaranteed
Furnace installation in Oakland County, done once and done properly
A furnace is only as good as the way it is put in. The same unit can run quietly for its full life or struggle from the first winter, and the difference is usually sizing, airflow and venting. Maverick Heating and Cooling has handled furnace installation and furnace replacement in Oakland County homes for 7 years. We are family-owned, and there are four of us.
Most people replace a furnace once or twice in a lifetime. This page explains the choices in plain English: when to replace, what size you need, what the efficiency numbers mean and what the day itself looks like.
What to watch for
Signs it is time to replace your furnace
No single sign settles it. Two or three together usually do.
It is more than 15 years old
Gas furnaces typically last 15 to 20 years. Age by itself is not a reason to replace, but past 15 years a big repair bill deserves a second thought.
A repair costs half a new furnace
A widely used guide: when one furnace repair comes to more than half the cost of replacement, the money is usually better spent on the new unit.
It needs a repair every winter
One failed igniter is ordinary wear. A different part failing each season usually means the furnace is wearing out as a whole, and the repair money starts to add up.
A cracked heat exchanger
A crack can let combustion gases mix with the air in the house. It cannot be patched, and the furnace stays off until the part or the furnace is replaced. If you are told you have one, ask to be shown it.
Short blasts of heat, uneven rooms
A furnace that roars for a few minutes, shuts off and leaves the far rooms cold may be too big for the house. No repair fixes the wrong size.
Gas bills rising for no clear reason
Rule out a dirty filter and leaking ducts first. Higher bills alone rarely justify replacement. Together with age and repairs, they add to the case.
What we do
What a furnace replacement involves
We install natural gas furnaces in standard and high-efficiency models, and we also replace propane and electric furnaces. A proper job covers every item here.
A load calculation
We work out how much heat your house loses on a cold day from its size, insulation, windows and layout, and choose the furnace from that.
Taking out the old furnace
Gas and power are shut off, and the old unit is disconnected from the ducts, the gas line and the vent and taken out.
Connecting the new furnace to the ducts
A new cabinet is rarely the same shape as the old one. The connections to the supply and return ducts are rebuilt to fit and sealed so the air goes where it should.
Venting
The exhaust has to leave the house safely. Depending on the furnace, that means a metal flue, usually into the chimney, or plastic pipes run out through a side wall or the roof.
Condensate drain
A high-efficiency furnace makes water whenever it runs. It needs a trapped drain line to a floor drain, or a small pump where there is no drain nearby.
Gas and electrical connections
The gas line is reconnected with a shutoff at the furnace and checked for leaks. The power and control wiring is connected and tested.
Start-up and testing
We set the gas pressure, check the flame, measure how much the air warms as it passes through the furnace and run a full heating cycle.
What size furnace do you need?
The right size comes from a load calculation, which the trade calls Manual J. It adds up how much heat the house loses through its walls, attic, windows and air leaks on a very cold day. Square footage alone does not answer the question, and neither does the label on the old furnace. Many houses have gained insulation and tighter windows since the last furnace went in, so they may need less heat now than they did then.
Bigger is not better. An oversized furnace heats the air near the thermostat quickly and shuts off before the rest of the house catches up. You get short cycles, rooms at different temperatures, more noise and extra wear from all the starting and stopping. A furnace that fits runs longer and steadier, and that is what makes a house feel evenly warm.
Told your furnace is unsafe to run?
If your furnace has been shut off over a cracked heat exchanger or a venting fault, leave it off until it is repaired or replaced. If a carbon monoxide alarm ever sounds, get everyone outside into fresh air and call 911. If you smell gas, leave the house right away without flipping switches or looking for the leak, then call 911 and your gas utility from outside.
80% or high-efficiency: AFUE in plain English
AFUE is the share of the gas you pay for that ends up as heat in the house over a season. An 80% furnace loses about a fifth of it, mostly up the flue. A high-efficiency condensing furnace has a second heat exchanger that pulls more heat from the exhaust, enough that water condenses out of it, and reaches 90% to about 98%. Over a heating season as long as the one in Oakland County, that gap adds up.
The two kinds are installed differently. An 80% furnace has hot exhaust and vents through a metal flue, usually into the chimney. A condensing furnace has much cooler exhaust, so it usually vents through plastic pipe out a side wall and needs a drain for the water. If the old furnace shared a chimney with a gas water heater, the chimney may need attention once the water heater vents into it alone. One thing efficiency does not change: a 96% furnace does not heat the house any faster. It uses less gas to do the same work.
Single-stage, two-stage or variable-speed?
A single-stage furnace is either off or running flat out. It is the simplest design and it heats a house perfectly well, with wider temperature swings between cycles.
A two-stage furnace spends most of the winter on a low setting, running longer and more quietly, and saves high fire for the coldest days. A modulating furnace adjusts its flame in small steps. Variable-speed describes the blower, not the burner: the fan ramps up and down gently, so the airflow is quieter and the temperature is more even from room to room. Staged and modulating furnaces work best with controls set up for them, so the thermostat is part of the decision.
What drives the cost of a new furnace?
Five things move the price of furnace replacement, and all of them are specific to your house. That is why an honest number takes a look at the job first.
- Size: the heating capacity the load calculation calls for
- Efficiency and staging: 80% or condensing, single-stage, two-stage or modulating
- Venting and drainage: moving from a chimney flue to side-wall pipes adds work
- Ductwork: duct repairs or changes needed for proper airflow
- Access: a furnace in a tight closet, crawl space or attic takes longer than one in an open basement
How it works
What furnace installation looks like, start to finish
We look at the house
Call 248-930-2080. We come out on time, measure the house, and look at the old furnace, the ducts, the vent, the gas line and the drain before recommending anything.
Options and the price
You get our honest recommendation with the alternatives beside it, what each one costs and how long the job will take. Nothing goes ahead until you decide.
Installation day
The old furnace comes out and the new one goes in: duct connections rebuilt and sealed, vent and drain run, gas and wiring connected. The heat is off while we work.
Testing and walkthrough
We check for gas leaks, set the gas pressure, test the safety controls and run full heating cycles. Then we show you the filter, the shutoffs and the thermostat.
Why Maverick
Family-owned, on time and honest for 7 years
Family-owned
A family business with a crew of four, in business for 7 years.
On time
You planned your day around us. When we give you a time, that is when we are at your door.
Honest work
We show you what is wrong and tell you the price before we start. If a small fix does it, we say so.
100% satisfaction guaranteed
We stand behind every job. Your satisfaction is guaranteed, 100%.
How much does a new furnace cost installed in Oakland County?
It depends on the size your house needs, the efficiency and staging you choose, and how much has to change around the furnace: venting, drain, ductwork and access. Any figure given without seeing the job is a guess. We look at the house, explain the options and give you the price before any work starts. Call 248-930-2080 to set up a visit.
How long does it take to install a new furnace?
It depends on the job, and we tell you how long yours will take when we give you the price. A furnace swapped for a similar one in an open basement is the quickest kind of job. Changing from a chimney-vented furnace to a side-vented condensing one, reworking ducts or working in a tight attic or crawl space takes longer.
Is a high-efficiency furnace worth it in Michigan?
Often, yes. The longer the heating season, the more hours a furnace runs and the more a high AFUE saves. The case is weaker in a small or very well-insulated house that uses little gas, or where running new vent pipes and a drain would be difficult. We will lay out both options for your house and tell you which one we would choose.
Do I have to replace the air conditioner with the furnace?
No. If your AC is fairly new and working well, keep it. In most homes the two share a blower, and the cooling coil sits at the furnace, so an air conditioner near the end of its life is worth replacing at the same visit. Our HVAC installation page covers replacing both together.
What is the best time of year to replace a furnace?
Before you have to. Late summer and early fall give you time to compare options with no pressure from the weather. A furnace that dies in January still gets replaced, but you choose in a hurry and in a cold house. If yours is past 15 years and has needed repairs, start the conversation while it still runs, and keep up the yearly furnace tune-up in the meantime.
Do I need new ductwork or venting with a new furnace?
Usually not new ducts, though the connections at the furnace are rebuilt to fit the new cabinet. We check that the existing ducts can carry the airflow the new furnace needs, because undersized returns can cause noise and overheating. Venting does change if you move from an 80% furnace to a condensing one.
Can I replace my furnace with a heat pump?
Yes, and for some houses it makes sense. A heat pump also does the job of the air conditioner, and cold-climate models are rated to hold most of their heating output at 5 degrees Fahrenheit. A house with natural gas can also go dual-fuel: a heat pump for mild weather with a gas furnace for deep cold. Our heat pump installation and service page covers how to decide.
Keep reading
Related services
Other work we do alongside furnace installation.
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Heating
Furnace Repair
No heat, cold air, short cycling or strange noises. We find the real cause and fix it right.
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Heating
Furnace Tune-Ups
A real fall tune-up: cleaned, tested and inspected, with anything we find explained before it is fixed.
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Cooling
AC Installation
New central air sized to your house, for replacements and homes getting AC for the first time.
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Heating + cooling
Heat Pumps
Cold-climate and dual-fuel heat pumps installed, repaired and serviced. One system that heats and cools.
Where we work
Furnace Installation across Oakland County
We are a family-owned crew of four serving these communities and the towns around them.
- Troy
- Rochester Hills
- Royal Oak
- Southfield
- Farmington Hills
- Novi
- Waterford
- West Bloomfield
- Pontiac
- Bloomfield Hills
- Birmingham
- Auburn Hills
- Clarkston
- Lake Orion
Do not see your town? Call 248-930-2080 and ask, or see our full service area.
Too hot or too cold?
Call the family that shows up
On time. Honest about the problem and the price. 100% satisfaction guaranteed.
248-930-2080Maverick Heating and Cooling · Family-owned · Oakland County, MI