It’s a cold winter morning in Minneapolis. You leave the comfort of your warm bed to head over to your thermostat. You want to get your home a little toasty before you officially get out of bed to start the day. You choose the perfect temperature setting, start up your heater, and then *bam*… literally. Your furnace is banging up a storm in your home. What in the world is going on?
Well… we’re going to get into all the possibilities below. No matter what’s going on, you’re going to need furnace repairs in Minneapolis, MN. When we say you need furnace repairs, we meant that you need furnace repairs from a professional. Keep reading to learn more…
Why Is Your Furnace Banging?
So let’s get into all the reasons why your home’s furnace might be banging around.
Check Expanding and Contracting Air Ducts
We’re going to start off with a problem that’s a little more benign than the ones that follow. Your air ducts are metal. This means that when they’re hit with a hot or cold temperature, they’re going to expand or contract a little. If you’re firing up your heater after a long hiatus, then you might hear a little popping. This is normal.
The popping becomes a problem when it’s too loud or persistent. Then, this might be another issue going on with your furnace.
Check for A Dirty Air Filter
Is your home’s air filter clean? You should be replacing your heater’s filter at least once a season. In practice, this is going to look like a switch out in the fall and in the winter. Your air filter is what keeps your heater running on high. If it’s dirty, you might notice a change in the way that your home’s heater runs and hear some odd banging.
Check for Undersized Ducts
Sometimes, your home expands as time goes on. You add on, add new members to the family, or adopt new appliances. Sometimes, the people who built your home just weren’t built for the job. Undersized ductwork makes your heater work so much harder to get warmth to your rooms. You’re going to hear loud banging as a result of exertion.
Check for Delayed Gas Ignition
A delayed gas ignition happens when there is built-up combustion gas in your furnace’s chamber. Furnaces are built to prevent this from happening, but sometimes things can go wrong if your system has been neglected. What happens as a result of this is a loud bang when you try to run your heater.
How to Tell Which Problem You’re Experiencing
Now, are you having trouble determining which problem you’re experiencing? For starters, you should change your furnace filter for good measure. If that doesn’t change anything for the better, then you should take some time to note when you hear banging, how often it is, and note any changes. If the problem is infrequent and not too loud then you’re just experiencing your ducts expanding and contracting. If it’s loud and alarming, you’re probably experiencing delayed gas ignition. If it’s pretty loud and fairly regular, it’s probably undersized ducts.
Ultimately, you need the expertise of a professional to really tell. That’s where we come in. We have all the right experience to figure out what’s going on with your furnace.
Contact Residential Heating and Air Conditioning today for your furnace problems.