What a good question! If we could give you a yes or no answer, we’d be a little stuck. On one hand, we want to be absolutely honest, so we’d tell you that it might not mean that you’re in imminent danger. However, safety is always the number one priority, so we’d be irresponsible not to tell you that a booming furnace can be dangerous. It really depends on your furnace, your situation, and the time it’s gone without professional care.
We know that it might not be as helpful to hear that your furnace might need heating repair in Walnut Creek, CA. But we’ll spend this blog post explaining to you why a booming furnace might be a danger to your home and what you can do about it. We’ll start with what the booming noise is, and end with some steps you can take to fix it.
Why Furnaces Boom
A booming furnace is not entirely uncommon. Over time, materials like soot and ash that come from the burning of fuel and particles in the air will start to settle on the burners of the furnace. Within just a few years, these materials could start to clog up the gas injection line and create some blockage between the gas injection and the ignition.
This leads to a situation where the furnace will pump gas into the combustion chamber but the gas will fail to ignite until quite a bit of it has pooled into the system. Then, it will light all at once in a miniature explosion which causes the system to boom. That’s why a furnace might start to boom!
A Booming Furnace Is a Problem
While this might seem like just an ordinary occurrence, this constant booming can actually be a huge problem. For starters, it’s going to cause a commotion which means there will be movement and friction inside your system. This can cause the system to overheat and also damage certain components. The longer your furnace goes on making a booming sound and having these miniaturized explosions go on, the more likely it is that a component gets damaged in the unit.
Then, there’s the heat exchanger. A booming furnace can create a rupture or crack in the heat exchanger, which is one of the most important and sensitive parts of the system. Down below we’ll go into detail as to why this can be so terrible.
Take Care of Your Heat Exchanger
The heat exchanger is such an important component of your heating system, that any problem with it can result in a safety concern. If your booming furnace causes a rupture or crack to form in your heat exchanger, gas and carbon monoxide could leak out of that component and into the air of your home. This is a big problem and could endanger you and your family.
We regularly clean the burners of a furnace on a routine maintenance appointment, so as long as you schedule these services every year, you should be fine to avoid a booming furnace. And if your furnace is booming, be sure to call us for repairs.
Contact Comfy Heating & Air Conditioning Inc. for furnace repairs.