If you’ve had your furnace for any appreciable length of time, you’re probably already pretty familiar with what it sounds like while it’s on. Most of the time, the sound of the furnace is probably just background noise in your home. You should listen for any unusual noises coming from the system, though, as they could indicate a serious issue. If you call for repairs as soon as you hear odd noises coming from the furnace, you might be able to prevent quite a bit of damage to the system. Read on for more information about the various noises that might indicate a problem with the furnace.
Booming
If your furnace is making a booming sound when it starts up, that tends to indicate that it’s having a problem with delayed ignition. This tends to happen in gas furnaces, as carbon particles build up on the burner assembly and begin to clog it. As the jets in the assembly become more clogged, they have a harder time igniting when they are supposed to. When the jets eventually ignite, they burn through a lot of gas at once and generate a loud boom. Professional assembly cleaning should resolve the issue for you. Just make sure you have it done soon, before the buildup becomes severe enough to prevent the jets from working at all.
Grinding
Does your furnace make a sound like an ailing garbage disposal when it’s running? If so, you might have an issue with the air handler. The air handler is the part of the furnace responsible for blowing air throughout the house. Inside the air handler motor are a few oiled bearings, which are responsible for lessening the amount of friction the motor experiences during operation. While these bearings can last a long time, they are not invincible. Eventually, the bearings will wear down to the point that they need to be replaced. The friction on the air handler motor will increase, and at some point it will start to make a grinding sound while the furnace is running. If you hear that sound, you need to make sure that you call for repairs as soon as possible. You don’t want to have to replace the air handler motor, as it’s far more expensive than replacing the bearings.
Short Cycling
If your furnace is turning itself on and off rapidly, it’s probably short cycling. That’s not a good sign for the health of your system. There are a couple of different reasons why your furnace might be short cycling, but the bigger issue is the kind of damage that problem can cause if it goes unchecked. Short cycling significantly increases the amount of wear and tear the furnace experiences over time, making it more likely to break down and shortening its lifespan. Make sure that you call for repairs as soon as you hear your system doing this.
Climate Masters offers furnace repair services of all kinds in St. Augustine, FL. If you need repair services for your furnace, contact us today to schedule an appointment with one of our professional technicians.
