White Oaks grew up around the mall through the seventies and eighties. Solid brick houses, mature trees, and ductwork designed for a furnace nobody makes any more.
The neighbourhood really took shape from the seventies onward, when the single family streets went in, with high rises and townhomes following later. White Oaks Mall opened in 1973 on the site of a plaza that had been there since 1962, and the streets were laid out to feed it. What you get today is solid brick, established streets and mature trees on most blocks.
The bit that matters to me is that the heating systems in these houses were designed around a low efficiency furnace with a chimney. Almost all of them have since been changed to high efficiency, and that swap has consequences that do not always get dealt with properly.
A high efficiency furnace vents out the side wall in plastic, so it stops using the chimney. If the water heater is still on that chimney it is now on its own in a flue sized for two appliances, and that needs looking at rather than ignoring.
Old ducts were sized for higher temperature air and lower airflow. Put a modern furnace on them and you can end up noisy, unbalanced, or both. It is usually fixable, and it is usually cheaper than people expect.
A lot of houses from this period have one central return doing all the work. Adding a return in the right place can make more difference to comfort than any piece of equipment.
“Mozee thoroughly inspected for gas leaks upon completion. Mozee says, no bubble, no trouble.”
Dane Howard, Google review
Very often it is the ductwork rather than the furnace. Ducts from the seventies were designed for a different kind of system and nobody adjusted for it at the swap.
It is worth a look. A water heater left alone on a flue sized for two appliances is a common thing I find in this neighbourhood.
Often yes, particularly if the air conditioner is due anyway. The ductwork wants checking first, which I would do before quoting anything.
Installation, repairs and service on all of it, tested before I leave.
London and the surrounding area. Just outside it? Ring anyway and I will tell you straight whether I can get to you.
