Why Is My Furnace Making Noises?

A noisy furnace, while annoying, can be scary. Your furnace shouldn’t be making any unusual noises. This may indicate there’s something wrong … aside from the sounds keeping you up at night.

Sounds you may hear from your furnace like a loud thumping noise, which could be an unbalanced blower wheel, to an annoying, high-pitched squeal, which may just indicate a lack of lubricant. Some are quick fixes, while others may take longer and require a professional Bluffton heating contractor.

Furnace issues rarely share a cause and are as individual as snowflakes. This means each and every noise can be pinpointed to specific parts in your furnace. To figure out why you’re hearing a particular noise all you need is some information.

• Squealing noises – Squealing is usually a belt issue. The belts on your furnace blower motor need to be routinely replaced and lubricated. Applying lubricant should stop the squealing, but if not, then it’s time to replace the belt. If you’re unsure of how to do either, call in a heating service pro.
• Humming or buzzing– When your furnace is working correctly, but making a humming sound, you may have a loud transformer, a bad interior fan or a faulty electrical connection. If it’s electrical, call in a professional!
• Banging Sound – The siding of your furnace is sheet metal, and during the start/stop cycle the fan can cause the metal to bend inwards and make a banging or popping sound. While this could indicate an undersized duct or a clogged filter, it’s usually just the normal sounds your furnace makes during the expansion and contraction during the start/stop cycle.
• Rattling – Rattling noises are typically related to something that’s come loose, like a screw. This is an easy fix, unless you can’t find the source of the rattling.
• Grinding – When your furnace starts making grinding noises it can get kind of scary. This can happen when you have broken components or extremely loose ones in your furnace. This needs to be checked out by a professional immediately or you could be looking at furnace breakdown or replacement.

Never ignore strange sounds from your furnace because they could be an alert to serious problems that could end up costing you a lot of money.

Remember to schedule an annual maintenance checkup to make sure your furnace is running at peak performance the entire cold season.