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Grinding, Squealing and Screeching: Interpreting the Noises Your HVAC Makes

If something is failing or going amiss with your HVAC unit, chances are, your HVAC unit is letting you know something is not quite right. However, most of the cues come in the form of sounds that many of us may overlook. If you hear your HVAC unit grinding, squealing, screeching or squeaking, it is letting you know it needs help. I was unaware of these cues and overlooked them. It ended up costing me a lot of money in repairs. I want to make sure that does not happen to other people, so I made this website. I hope you learn how to interpret the noises your HVAC unit is making so you can get it the repairs it needs before you incur a costly repair, or worse, permanently ruin your unit for good.

Grinding, Squealing and Screeching: Interpreting the Noises Your HVAC Makes

Duct Maintenance Is A Key Component Of HVAC Efficiency

by Billie Carlson

Out of sight, out of mind. As busy as life can be, it is easier to focus on the problems you can see clearly closing in around you than the problems lurking within the walls of your house. It would be nice if ducts were a closed system and impervious to all of the ills of the world, but they are not. If you want your HVAC system to run at optimum efficiency, you can't ignore your ducts; instead, you have to take all of the steps to properly maintain them. 

Step 1: Cleaning

It is difficult to give a rubric to tell exactly when you are in need of duct cleaning. The truth is that duct cleaning is dependent on many factors. For one, if you live in a dusty area, have pets, and/or have a lot of flowering plants around your home, then you have to know that some of these contaminants will get down into your ducts. Furthermore, if you have ongoing construction projects in your home, the dust created from these projects will likely begin to build up inside your ducts. As contaminants accumulate, they can cause serious problems for the quality of the air inside your home as well as decrease the efficiency of your AC unit. Thus, you should inspect your ducts from time to time, especially when conditions are conducive to duct clogging, and clean them when necessary. 

step 2: Sealing the Leaks

As air moves through your ducts, it exerts outward pressure on the walls of your ducts. With enough time, this pressure can cause the joints and seams of your ducts to leak, and leaky ducts can decrease your furnace efficiency by up to 40%. If you pay for a 98% efficient furnace, then connect the furnace to leaky ducts, your overall system efficiency can be as little as 58% efficient. In order to get the best performance from you HVAC system, you need to have your ducts inspected for leaks every few years and have air conditioner repairs made when necessary. 

If your HVAC costs keep going up without a corresponding hike in the price of utilities, then you need to look at your own system to find the problem. Having your furnace and AC unit tuned up is a good place to start, but sometimes the real problem is your ducts. In order to protect the quality of the air inside your home and to prevent your HVAC costs from eating up an undue share of your budget, you must maintain your ducts. 

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