Your heater can’t call out to you and say, “Excuse me, I think there’s a problem. I don’t feel so well.” But it can give you some signals, and you should listen well when you hear them. Ignoring an odd heater sound probably means ignoring a need for repair, and the longer you postpone a repair, the greater the chance that the problem will get worse and the repair will be more expensive.
Any sound your heating system makes is cause for concern. Listen when your heater is working well, familiarize yourself with the hum and whoosh of proper heater operation, and you’ll be able to tell when something is different. One common heater noise that definitely indicates a problem is rattling. What could be causing that? We’ll help you figure it out.
The Cabinet Door
This is the ideal scenario. If this is the only problem you have, you don’t really have a problem at all. Your furnace cabinet has a door, and that door has a latch. If it was not tightly secured the last time the cabinet was opened, the door might be rattling because of a slight looseness. Try opening the door and closing it again, making sure it’s tightly latched. With luck, the sound will stop.
A Loose Component
If the sound continues, we’ll need to continue investigating. At this point, you’ll be standing in front of your heater. Is that where the sound is coming from? Then chances are, you’ve got a loose component somewhere in the heater itself. What could it be?
Perhaps there’s simply a screw loose which is allowing a panel of the cabinet to vibrate or clatter. Perhaps there’s something going on inside the blower fan motor, which—like any motor—has moving parts that can easily cause trouble. Or perhaps it’s the blower fan itself. If the fan is loose and spinning off-kilter, or if one of the fan blades is damaged, it could make quite the rattling sound.
In this case, it’s critical to get heater service in Chisholm, MN as promptly as possible. If the motor is the cause, you’d certainly much rather have it repaired than allow a problem to continue until it’s too badly damaged and must be replaced. And if something like a screw or fan blade is coming loose, you definitely don’t want it to suddenly fly free in there and hit other components, causing more costly damage!
Duct Disturbances
If you’re standing in front of your heater and it seems that the sound is, in fact, coming from elsewhere, it’s time to think about your ducts. Your ductwork is the system that conveys the hot air from the heater to the vents in your home. Each section of ductwork should be securely fastened into place.
Because of the job that it does—having hot air blasted through it, enduring temperature fluctuations and high air pressure—the ductwork is under a lot of strain. So are the screws or bolts holding the ductwork in place. And if any of that starts to come loose, it will definitely rattle.
A member of our team would be delighted to track down the source of your heating system’s rattling noise. Whether it’s the heater itself or the ductwork, we can get it sorted out for you so you can stay cozy and have your peace and quiet, too.
Reach out to Mesaba Heating & Air Conditioning today. Service to you is success to us!