I just purchased my first home and while my heat or air is on. my AC\ Heat ducts makes noises all night long

Question

the noises range from loud booms to ticking to dripping noises. what should i do ?

Answer 1

call a heating/ac service company I'd imagine

Answer 2

If load booms are during heating cycle you'd better clean, or have cleaned, your furnace burners and pilot and check flue for good draft. Also burner alignment. Sounds like an ignition problem. Dripping is most likely in cooling mode. You probably have some duct work that is sweating. Condensation forms on ducts that are exposed to warmer air than the temp of the cold air supply on the inside. You either need to block any outside air coming in contact with the duct work via an air leak or you could insulate the duct work. If only when first started up and furnace is in damp basement area you can add a closeable register to the return air trunk allowing the damp air to be dehumidified by the AC unit until basement is cool and dry. The ticking is normal for an older house as the temp. changes. If these are all during heat cycle have the furnace inspected for a cracked heat exchanger. This should be done annually anyway but rarely gets done. Every winter you hear of someone dying of carbon monoxide poisoning from a bad flue and/or furnace. Money well spent for a little piece of mind!

Answer 3

Dear Friend:

It is not obvious to me what your age and physical
abilities are. Therefore I will suggest that you get
"someone" to do an inspection of all of your installed heating ducts. They should pay particular attention to
loose support straps, broken or missing straps, poor
or loose duct section to duct section joints, and any
duct which is laying against something hard such as
a water pipe or concrete block wall. As the pipes
flex and expand due to heating loose mechanical supports or bonds may creak, and make all kinds of noise. Lack
of proper supports may contribute to that by permitting the ductwork to swing freely in mid air. If the loose duct work passes closely by something hard such as a brick or cinderblock wall, chances are that movement of the duct will produce clanking and banging.

Send your friendly inspector under the house, or up
into the attic (as the case may be) as you turn on the
heating system (assume it is a cold day). While they
are crawling around within the duct system they
should be able to hear and move toward the offensive noise makers.

Resolution of the problems should be rather easy and only require repair of the broken or loose supports, etc.

It is also possible that you have some kind of broken gizmo down or up inside your duct system. This gizmo could be anything that fell into the duct during home construction or renovation. As the air passes through the duct, the gizmo is blown this way and that in the air stream. Locating this phantom gizmo also requires that freindly inspector crawling around within the duct system while the system is newly turned on (for the first time that day). Let your friend know you also need to know if there is any other trash within your ducts. Some inspection may be done from normal places inside your house by removing floor and wall registers (vent grills) and looking inside for trash and debris. Clean out all trash and replace the grill.

Inspect the furnace unit itself. Sometimes as units age, or are serviced by various people, the side panels do not get put back on correctly using all of the little screws. In haste to get out from under the house, or out of a hot attic some short cuts may have been taken, screws dropped, etc. Loose metal side covers can flex during heating and cooling and produce all sorts of calamity and strange noises. Push and press on all side panels adequately to determine that none of them are loose.

Last but not least, examine the supports for the heating and cooling system itself. Have they rusted out and become useless so that the system is partly hanging in mid air? Are the wooden rafters rotten under it? Is it able to wiggle in any way? Check to see it is securely mounted.

All of this is fairly easy if your friend is willing to go up into the attic or under the house.

Regards,
Zah

Answer 4

You are hearing Exspanison of the duct system when the blower comes on, You need a fabric expanision joint put in- and there are two speeds for the Blower motor wiring, change it to slow- -the ticking is probably retraction, and the drip can only be the Condensation from the A/C, - not much can be done for that, -

Answer 5

change the filter or clean the ducts

Answer 6

If that is new, then you have year or years warranty