Are Draft Inducer Problems Making Your High-Efficiency Furnace Noisy?
Gas furnace technology has advanced significantly in recent decades, and many homes are now fitted with high-efficiency gas furnaces. These specialized furnaces achieve significantly more efficiency by recycling heat taken from hot exhaust gases and can heat your home effectively while using much less gas than a conventional propane or natural gas furnace.
Unfortunately, these highly sophisticated gas furnaces can still suffer from mechanical trouble, and strange noises coming from your furnace are often one of the first signs of underlying problems. If your high-efficiency gas furnace is making unusual noises when activated, the furnace's draft inducer may be malfunctioning.
What Is A Draft Inducer?
In ordinary gas furnaces, the exhaust gases that are produced when gas is burned in the combustion chamber are immediately vented out of the furnace, via an exhaust flue. Because this exhaust gas is very hot and under significant pressure, it will rise through the furnace and exit through the flue quickly, allowing more oxygen to enter the combustion chamber.
High-efficiency furnaces achieve their exceptional efficiency ratings by recirculating these hot exhaust gases around the furnace's heat exchanger. Once their useable heat has been extracted, they exit the furnace via the exhaust flue.
However, because these exhaust gases are much cooler than the gases vented by a conventional gas furnace, they will not exit the furnace quickly enough without a little help. High-efficiency furnaces contain draft inducers, which are small, powerful fans that blow the exhaust gases out more quickly. Without these inducers, exhaust gases would build up inside the furnace's combustion chamber, preventing efficient burning of the furnace's gas supply.
Is A Faulty Draft Inducer Making Your High-Efficiency Furnace Noisy?
When a high-efficiency furnace is activated, the draft inducer starts working immediately, venting any leftover exhaust gases from the previous heating cycle before the combustion chamber ignites. If you hear a strange clicking, whirring, tapping, or humming noise as soon as your high-efficiency furnace is activated, the draft inducer is probably to blame.
If the furnace makes a humming or rattling sound, the housing that contains the draft inducer's fan may have come loose, causing it to vibrate when the fan rotates. This is generally a minor problem and can be fixed by reattaching the housing and replacing any stripped or rusted fasteners. However, draft inducers can also make noises because of more serious issues.
If your furnace's draft inducer makes a loud clicking or whirring noise, this may signify that the inducer fan's bearings are starting to wear out. Continuing to run the fan with worn bearings can cause serious damage to the fan itself, and may cause your furnace to automatically deactivate due to overheating.
If you hear a loud humming noise when you activate your high-efficiency furnace, the draft inducer's motor may have burned out, preventing the inducer fan from working at all. Burnt out inducers will allow exhaust gases to accumulate in the furnace, so you may also notice a weak, yellow flame through the combustion chamber's inspection window.
If your high-efficiency gas furnace is making any of these noises, and you suspect a faulty draft inducer is to blame, you should call in a professional furnace repair service as quickly as possible to have the issue diagnosed and repaired. These services can repair or replace damaged draft inducers quickly and safely, getting your high-efficiency furnace back up and running as quickly as possible.