When kids come trick or treating, it’s a yearly reminder that summer is over, the days are getting shorter and colder nights are coming soon. Halloween season is the perfect time to schedule a fall HVAC checkup. Is your home comfort system making frightening noises? Here’s the spooky truth. Your heater has been idle (and we all know, idleness is the devil’s workshop) for six months. While ghosts and ghouls may invade your front porch this time of year, scary noises from your HVAC system might mean it’s time to call Bruce’s Air Conditioning for service. Here’s a goblin’s guide to the sounds that are haunting your HVAC system.
Vampire Banging
When a vampire wants out of a chained coffin, you hear a lot of haunted muttering and banging. When you set your thermostat for heat, there’s generally a pause, then a rumbling noise as the gas ignites. The furnace kicks in, and the fan starts blowing heat. If you turn on your furnace and experience a longer hesitation with a banging sound, it may mean there’s an ignition problem or that the gas burners are not igniting properly.
The Rattle of Witches
Witches stir magic potions in their cauldrons with giant rusty metal spoons, often making an incredibly annoying rattling sound as they call out their secret ingredients – Eye of newt, toe of frog (you get the idea.) Loose fan blades or faulty motor blades can make a similar maddening metallic or plastic rattling sound. No magic potion will eliminate this scary noise. Best to call the experts at Bruce’s Air Conditioning.
The Zombie Whine
It’s common knowledge that zombies whine when they don’t get their pound of flesh. Just like zombies, faulty or worn bearings make an ear-piercing whine, usually upon start up. If you notice this high-pitched sound, check the front porch for zombies first, then call for service.
Werewolf Whistling Through the Rafters
Unless you live in a haunted castle that actually has rafters, that whistling sound is probably an indication of a problem with your duct system (not a werewolf with laryngitis). The whistling or whooshing sound is the air escaping through a crack or break in your duct system or a vent that was not installed correctly.
Day of the Dead
One of the scariest sounds of a haunted HVAC system is no sound at all. On the day of the your-HVAC-is-dead day, your system remains alarmingly silent. Of course, this is often due to electrical issues and may be fixed by resetting your breaker switch. However, if resetting the breaker doesn’t fire up your system, a service call is probably in order.
Haunted HVAC systems are a ghastly challenge this time of year. A fall service call will get you ready for winter and insure that all your components are in top form. Why not give the pro’s at Bruce’s Air Conditioning a chance to exorcise the demons from your HVAC system?
