You May Be Able to Quiet Down Your Noisy HVAC System
If your central heating and cooling system makes a lot of noise when it’s operating, especially from the ducts are transporting the air, don’t conclude there’s nothing you can do about it. Usually in homes with this problem, there are particular reasons why the air vents and ducts are making a racket. That reality makes it easier to solve this problem.
In any forced-air central heating or cooling system, the equipment heats or cools the air, which then gets pushed through the house by powerful fans through a network of ducts, registers and vents.
The air needs a smooth path to the rooms in your home, as well as one back to the equipment where it gets conditioned all over again. The fan in the blower or air handler not only pushes supply air out into the house; it pulls return air back to the equipment through return ducts.
Often, air vents and ducts make loud, annoying noises as the air is being brought back to the heating or cooling equipment.
- When the return air encounters obstacles making it back to the equipment, it typically increases in velocity (much as a river or stream will do when the canyon walls close in on it).
- That higher velocity can be noisy, especially when duct sections aren’t well connected. Increased noise also can result from air pressure imbalances in different rooms and parts of the duct network.
- This can create more air movement and infiltration into and out of a house, as air pressure seeks to equalize itself with outside air.
How Do You Reduce the Noise?
The increased noise may come as a result of the home not having enough return registers or vents. In that case, fixing the problem can be expensive. Replacing or adding ductwork isn’t cheap or easy, and neither is adding vents and registers in rooms.
On the other hand, you might luck out if the problem is something that’s more easily addressed, such as
- partially blocked returns vents and registers,
- return ducts clogged with dirt and debris, or
- an air filter that’s clogged with dust and dirt.
Make sure all registers and vents are open and clean; that the duct system gets inspected regularly (usually five years is a good interval), and cleaned when necessary; that the furnace or AC filter is replaced regularly; and that duct sections are connected securely.
If the easy sort of fix doesn’t work, and the unholy racket is continuing, keeping you from sleep and relaxation, call your trusted Cincinnati HVAC repair company to come look at your system.
They should be able to provide recommendations for quieting your noisy forced-air system.