Why Does My Heating System Click?

Generally speaking, your furnace shouldn’t make a lot of noise when it’s running. A gentle hum is normal, but any other loud sounds that you don’t ordinarily hear could indicate that something is wrong. One sound that you might hear if there’s an issue with your furnace is that of a clicking sound.

Reasons Your Furnace is Clicking

If you hear a clicking sound coming from your furnace while it’s running, it’s best to call a professional furnace repair service to come and inspect your furnace in order to determine the exact problem – and to fix it. The following are some of the potential problems your furnace might be experiencing if you hear a clicking sound:

• There’s a problem with the ignitor – If you have a gas stove, then you’re aware of the brief clicking sound it makes when you first fire it up. You’ll hear this too when the furnace first starts up. However, it shouldn’t last very long. If the clicking continues for more than a minute, it could mean that the igniter is dirty or clogged and needs to be either cleaned or repaired.
• The gas valve is clogged – If the furnace is working perfectly fine and the ignitor isn’t dirty or clogged, then it could mean that there’s an issue with the gas getting to the pilot light. The clicking will continue because the ignitor is trying to spark a flame without gas. This could be a result of your a clogged gas valve.
• The thermocouple is stopping the gas – The thermocouple flame sensor is a safety mechanism in the furnace that will shut the gas off if there’s a problem with the flame temperature. In some cases, the thermocouple may not be working properly and may be improperly sensing a problem with your flame temperature.
• The furnace motor is having issues – If the furnace is running properly and producing heat but you’re still hearing clicking sounds, it could be the motor bearings in the furnace motor. It could also be other small parts knocking around inside the motor. This should be inspected as it could result in an important component getting damaged or breaking.
• There’s an issue with the inducer – If you have an oil furnace, then the fan on the inducer could be dirty, clogged or loose, which will cause a clicking sound as it runs.
• The ductwork is damaged – If the clicking sound is coming from your ducts and not your furnace, then it may mean that there are loose or cracked ducts in your ductwork.

If you’re hearing clicking sounds in your furnace as it attempts to start up or while it’s running, then it could be the result of any of these problems. If you’re in the greater Philadelphia area, we recommend contacting us at W.F. Smith as soon as possible by visiting us online or to schedule a furnace inspection. Even if the issue turns out to be minor, fixing it as soon as possible can help to prevent worse and more expensive problems from happening.

Dave Smith was very helpful in describing the way the systems work and the efficiency of the heat pumps. We have been with another service provider for 25 years and now we will change to W.F. Smith. I will highly recommend them. Very professional and installation was great.