Weird Furnace Noises, and What They Mean

Monday, November 14th, 2016 at 11:00 am

You're going to be relying on your furnace quite a bit to keep warm this winter, which means more strain on the system. The more you use your furnace, the more likely it will be to develop issues. You need to keep an eye out for said issues, so that you can have them repaired as soon as possible and prevent more damage to the system. One of the best ways to identify furnace issues early is to listen for strange noises. Let's go over some of those noises now.

Grinding

The air handler is the part of the furnace that circulates air throughout the home during operation. It's essentially a large fan attached to a motor. In order to compensate for the amount of strain the motor is put under during operation, the system is equipped with a series of lubricated bearings. These bearings wear down over time, causing the friction on the air handler motor to increase. The added friction causes a grinding sound to come from the air handler, which can be heard pretty clearly during operation. If you hear this sound, call for repairs before the motor overheats and burns out.

Booming

If your furnace is making a loud booming sound when it starts up, the burner assembly is probably clogged. This happens because of carbon particle buildup on the jets in the assembly, causing some of them to fire later than they should. When those delayed jets do fire, they burn through all of the excess gas at once. This generates a large booming sound. Professional cleaning should take care of the problem for you. Have it done quickly, though, before the entire assembly becomes clogged.

American Heating & Cooling offers comprehensive furnace repair services throughout Pikeville, KY. Call today to schedule an appointment with one of our furnace experts.