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There are many noises a machine like a furnace can make. If it’s gently whirring in the distance while it provides your home with heat, or even if it clicks once to turn on, these are sounds that you shouldn’t be worried about. After all, a furnace needs to give you a sign that its working, and those can be good noises, as long as they’re not too loud.
However, there’s one noise we want to talk about today, and that’s booming. A booming furnace requires heater repair in Kalispell, MT, even if it still works efficiently. That booming sound is a particular kind of problem that could lead to safety issues down the line, or even a full breakdown if it’s neglected for long enough.
Let’s talk about a booming furnace. We’ll cover why this happens, the science behind it, and what you can do to stop it.
How a Furnace “Booms”
When your gas furnace turns on, it sends natural gas through the system to be ignited. The ignition switch in modern models is electric, so it gets sent an electrical signal that tells the system to ignite the gas now heading into the combustion chamber. And ideally, the furnace burns that gas and turns it into heat where it’s exchanged into the air of your home and you can feel it.
However, sometimes the burners get dirty after months and years of doing the same process over and over again. They can get covered in dust, soot, grime, dirt, and other contaminants that can make it hard for the ignition to meet the gas. This allows gas to pool up into the combustion chamber and sit there for a prolonged period of time while the system tries to ignite it, finally burning it and creating a miniature explosion that makes a “boom” sound.
From a Low Grumble to a Loud Boom
Furnaces don’t start out by booming. They usually start with a grumble, or a soft, low-pitched sound that resembles a dirty match finally catching fire. A low grumbling might not be an immediate repair need, but it does signal that you should invest in maintenance so a technician can come in and clean the components so that it stops making that noise.
One of the main reasons why a booming furnace is such an insidious issue, is because of what it can do. That miniature explosion can crack or break other components in your system, most notably the heat exchanger which is in charge of keeping carbon monoxide and other fumes out of your breathable air. Even low grumbling can be bad for the structural integrity of these components.
Choose Maintenance and Repairs
There are two solutions to a booming furnace.
First, you should invest in repairs if it’s making a loud booming sound. We’ll clean the burners, but we’ll also fix or replace any components that might have been compromised due to the issue at hand. Once we’ve done that, you should be all set.
Then, you should schedule maintenance every year that you own your furnace. During maintenance, we clean the burners to ensure they don’t make this noise and cause trouble.
From repairs to maintenance, Bill’s Superheat, Inc. has your back. Contact us for furnace help. Here to Save the Day!