repairs

What Are Those Noises From Your Furnace?

Do you ever wake up and think you’ve heard a bump in the night? A burglar or someone lurking around the house is potentially one of the biggest nightmares ever. However, we’re here to tell you that the noise you heard, is probably from your furnace.

Throughout the lifespan of your central air system, your furnace can produce an array of mysterious noises that can cause concern or bother. It’s best not to tune out these sounds. Specific noises can detail underlying problems within the furnace.

Identifying the cause can help you and your preferred HVAC technician to restore the health, performance quality, and safety of your home furnace system.

Furnace Making a Squealing Noise

When your furnace makes a squealing or squeaking noise, it is generally a sign that the bearings of the blower motor or the inducer motor are wearing out.

Alternatively, when the pieces of the blower motor become misaligned, a loud squealing or squeaking noise results. This is when the blower motor wheel and blower housing scrape against each other. Specifically, it is the friction between these two pieces that generates noise.

Another reason your furnace may be squealing like a pig is that the blower belt is frayed. The same squealing noise can come from a loose or frayed belt in your car’s engine.

The furnace Makes a Clicking Noise

There are several reasons your furnace could be making a clicking noise. Though they range in seriousness, it’s always important to have someone out to check the noise as soon as possible.

One of the most common reasons your furnace could make a clicking noise is because something is wrong with the ignition system. Sometimes there can be a bad mixture of gas and air that doesn’t allow the system to light up. The clicking could be attributed to the furnace trying to unsuccessfully light a flame.

Also, inside the furnace is a control board that contains several switches. These switches flip on and off throughout each one of the furnace’s cycles. Sometimes the flipping of these powerful switches creates a noise that sounds like a “clicking” within the furnace.
Loose ball bearings could make a clicking noise in your furnace. But the same could be said when the blower motor or inducer motor becomes jilted and positions itself in such a way that it continually hits or touches another part that it shouldn’t.

Whether these motors were thrown into misalignment by an external force or simply improperly installed, the attention of your HVAC technician can restore the correct alignment and eliminate the source of the noise.

Furnace Making a Rattling Noise

For blower motors to work efficiently and properly, they need to always be in balance. To ensure this alignment, blower motor wheels typically have balancing weights or clips attached to them.

When these weights are thrown, the wheels can make a rattling noise. Dirt and other debris under the wheels can also throw the blower motor out of alignment.

Other explanations for a rattling furnace can be loose screws or stray scrap metal bouncing around in your burner, fan, or any other part of the furnace.

If you only hear the rattling while the furnace is on and producing air, the sound could be coming from your ductwork. Over time and with use ducts can come loose and need to be reattached.

Abnormal noises of any kind should be deferred to the attention of your preferred HVAC contractor. Many times, noise-related problems are connected to the blower motor, which, if endangered, can cause severe damage to the furnace and destroy its internal parts.

To schedule your furnace maintenance, contact one of our friendly representatives in the call center or book an appointment online at your convenience.

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