Noises from a Furnace That May Indicate Repair Needs

ac designs team

Everyone hears strange noises coming from their furnace at one point or another. Though not all furnace noises indicate that something is wrong with your furnace, there are quite a few sounds that do. If you don’t know which noises indicate a serious problem, you won’t know when to call a professional until it’s too late. Therefore, we’ve assembled this list of the most common furnace noises that indicate a need for repairs.

Grinding

Within every furnace is a collection of parts referred to as an “air handler.” This is the section that is responsible for circulating the air through the system and throughout the house. The motor that operates the air handler is under quite a lot of stress while the furnace is operating. In order to ease the burden on the motor, lubricated bearings are installed inside it to decrease the friction. These bearings can occasionally dry up, however, which increases the resistance on the motor. The grinding sound coming from your furnace is likely the sound of the bearings in the motor wearing down. If the bearings are not fixed or replaced, the motor will eventually burn out from the strain of running without them.

Booming

A loud booming sound coming from your furnace could be a couple of different things. In some homes, the warm air in the ducts can cause them to expand and flex. This creates a booming, thunderous sound that echoes through the ducts. This isn’t really anything to be worried about. However, the sound could also be coming from your furnace’s burner assembly.

The burner assembly is the part that actually burns the fuel to create heat. Over time, carbon particles that are left over from the burning fuel can build up on the burner. Once a burner becomes sufficiently caked in carbon, it can have trouble igniting on time. When it finally does ignite, it burns through the excess gas build up all at once. This miniature explosion can also make a loud booming sound.

If you are having issues with your furnace, call AC Designs, Inc. We provide professional furnace repairs throughout St. Augustine.