Unusual sounds coming from your heater are almost always bad news. In fact, they are an early warning sign that something is beginning to go wrong with your heater. When you address the problems sooner rather than later, you can stay ahead of a furnace breakdown and more serious problems.
In fact, paying attention to the sounds and scheduling service for your furnace right away is the best way to prevent needing a complete furnace replacement in Federal Way, WA. You can keep reading to learn more about five scary sounds that your furnace might make, and what could be going wrong.
1. Popping
If you have a gas furnace, a popping sound is particularly concerning. Your gas furnace has a heat exchanger where gas releases and a pilot light ignites to create heat. When the pilot light ignites, combustion happens. Your gas furnace has a variety of safety mechanisms in place that ensure the proper amount of gas gets released into the heat exchanger and that the pilot light ignites at the appropriate time.
If something is wrong with the safety mechanisms, more gas may enter the chamber than is necessary. As a result, when the pilot light finally ignites it makes a popping sound due to a small explosion happening inside the system. This is very dangerous because it puts a lot of pressure on your heat exchanger. If your heat exchanger cracks due to this pressure, you might be left replacing your entire heater a lot sooner than you expected.
2. Knocking
When you hear a knocking sound coming from your heater, whether it is gas or electric, that is an indication that something large is loose inside of the system. It is likely knocking against other components and spreading damage quickly. When you hear a knocking sound it is important to turn your heater off right away and give our team a call to schedule service. If you keep your heater operating despite the knocking sound, you might experience a complete heater breakdown.
3. Squealing
A squealing sound points to belt problems somewhere inside of your furnace. Your furnace has several belts inside the unit that help with operation. If one of these belts gets loose, it may produce a squealing sound. It’s better to address this earlier rather than later. If the squealing continues, the belt could snap completely and cease operation of your furnace. Then you’ll be left scheduling an emergency repair instead of a tune-up.
4. Buzzing
Buzzing can originate from a variety of places. If the buzzing sound is not as loud, it may be a loose isolation foot that usually helps your indoor unit remain balanced. If one isolation foot becomes loose it can produce a buzzing sound during operation. This is usually caused by the vibration of your furnace working.
If the buzzing sound is not coming from an isolation foot, it may be coming from some other part. There may be an electrical problem in either place causing a buzzing sound. When you consider the dangers of electrical problems, this is definitely something you want to get checked out sooner rather than later.
5. Whistling
If you allow the air filter on your furnace to get too full, air can have a tough time making its way into the system for a heating cycle. As your furnace works harder against the clogged air filter, it may produce a whistling sound. Air is getting into the system under high pressure through small openings or cracks, resulting in a whistling sound.
Contact Sound Heating and Air Conditioning Inc. today to schedule an appointment for furnace service! We take your comfort as seriously as you do.