While any unusual sound coming from your furnace is alarming, a booming sound is perhaps the most concerning. If you hear a booming sound even once, you should turn your system off and call for service immediately.
Being proactive and investing in furnace repair in Indian Harbour Beach, FL can prevent permanent damage as well as health and fire risks for your family. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about why your furnace might be booming and what makes the sound so dangerous.
What Causes a Booming Sound?
Booming can happen in an electric furnace if something is wrong with the motor, resulting in a very loud sound during operation. It is also common for buildup on the heating elements to result in booming when the system is heating up for a cycle. Depending on what type of buildup is on the surface of the burners, small explosions can happen as the burners reach extreme temperatures.
These sounds are concerning, but booming is the most concerning when you have a gas furnace. The explosion that causes a booming sound is the result of too much gas being in the chamber when the flame ignites for a heating cycle. This can happen either because the ignition is delayed or because the gas valve is allowing too much gas to be released at one time.
Why Is a Booming Sound Dangerous?
The reason booming is so dangerous is because the explosion happening is adding a lot of strain to your heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is in place as an airtight compartment where combustion can happen safely and transfer harmful carbon monoxide fumes outside of your home while maintaining a clean stream of warm air to heat your home.
Booming can damage the structure to the point that carbon monoxide is able to leak out and mix in with clean air. Since gas does not have an odor on its own, you may not even be able to detect a gas leak like this until you’re already experiencing significant health symptoms.
If you hear your furnace booming, whether gas or electric, call us for service right away. This will ensure that the problem is addressed before it causes permanent damage. If your heat exchanger cracks, the entire heater needs to be replaced because cracks cannot be safely repaired.
The Professional Difference
Ideally, you want to schedule annual maintenance for your heater to catch problems like this early. We may be able to identify issues like buildup on heating elements and issues with gas valves and ignition and then fix them before they ever get far enough along to cause these explosions inside of the system.
Consistent care can prevent issues from ever getting so far out of hand that you’re left without heat. Plus, it can save you money later on over having to make more expensive repairs later on.
Making families happy on the Space Coast since 1975. Schedule an appointment with Complete Air & Heat, Inc.