Inside Your Home With Shanklin Heating - Episode 2: Listen To The Systems In Your Home

Is your system making a noise in your home that concerns you? Kip Shanklin goes through different noises that your HVAC and electrical systems may be making and what they could mean!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Let's say you're driving uh your spouse's car. You haven't driven in a month or so, and you get in, you're like, what is that noise? And they're like, What do you mean? I don't hear a noise, right? It's that same radar that you have.

SPEAKER_01 0:10

We're gonna go over some of our number one calls that we truly hear straight from the customer.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Hi, I'm Kip Shanklin, and this is Inside Your Home with Shanklin Heating, where I give you real answers about heating, cooling, electrical, and air quality and the systems that power up your home.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

And I'm Tiffany.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

All right, awesome. Thanks, Tiffany. Appreciate you joining me here, helping me out. Today, we are going to talk about something every homeowner experiences at some point. Something every homeowner experiences at some point. Again, we're inside your home. What is that? It's noises.

SPEAKER_01 0:41

Yeah, like you hear something immediately and you think, that just doesn't sound right.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

Yeah, so obviously, with us being talking about the systems in your home, and the truth is is some noises are completely normal, right? Refrigerator, it makes a little bit of noise. We all kind of know what that sound is. We know what certain things make. Uh, maybe a clock makes a certain noise in your home. Um, but some of them can maybe even be some like early warning signs, like, hey, let's take a look a little deeper.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Yeah, but what's hard is you you don't know the difference. You know, as a homeowner, you hear something's off. It just it's maybe okay. It might be just it just sounds a little different.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

And and you know, this is unique, but sometimes you ever lose power in your house and all the noises go away. You realize how many little things are going on in your home. So um, yeah, we're we're gonna know it. That sounds a little different. That sounds a little off. That's a that's a great, great thing to talk about, Tiffany, because we want to get ahead of those things. Again, this is inside your home. We want to make sure that you're aware you're you're a you're a smarter homeowner, you're more educated homeowner. So we're gonna walk through some of the most common noises people hear, maybe more specifically about HVC or even electrical, and then we're gonna see help you understand like maybe what's a little bit more on the normal side, or what maybe you could see some opportunities to get to get straightened out or reduce that noise.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

Absolutely. So today we're just like Kip said, we're gonna go over some of our number one calls that we truly hear straight from the customer, you know, and they're calling in, and these are common things that you hear, and we want you to know that it's okay to you know be concerned about these things, and we're here, you know, as Shanglin to help you guys understand these things and know what's normal, what's not, like you Kip said, know some of the early signs. So the first one is uh that I have for you, Kip, is is it normal um if I hear some banging and popping noises?

SPEAKER_00 2:38

Banging and popping noises depends if you have kids playing in the basement.

SPEAKER_01 2:41

True, that's very true. My house, then it would be normal.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

Yeah, yeah. So we could say you are good to go. There's a uh a four-year-old and a seven-year-old down there. Imagine to hear those kinds of things.

SPEAKER_01 2:51

You're correct, you're correct.

SPEAKER_00 2:52

But no, in all reality, though, we want to, you know, the popping or banging, you know, and and what do we mean by that is when we're talking about whether an air system or an HVAC system is turning on or off, right? So that, oh, I hear a clunk or a thunk or a bang, you know. A lot of in the automotive industry, that's what they say. They say, I hear a clunking noise up front. Um, but let's let's reference this so in the home, even more specifically, like that typical system that's in a basement, okay? The duct works typically underneath the first floor, and the and the the ductwork or the air system is very close to your senses, it's close to where you walk on, you hear it, you may even feel it. Uh, so you're gonna hear some of those things. So, what I like to talk about is the popping or banging. Traditionally, there's chances that that could be coming from, let's just say one of two things. There's also multiple things that come from, but one, either the furnace itself, the actual furnace itself, so maybe a more mechanical clinking noise, and hear some metal contact or things of that nature.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

Do you like what about like breaking noises?

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Is that so like like a snap, snap? Like a snap or breaking noises, that is something that we could say, like, oh man, we we probably need to go downstairs, just take a quick visual look. You know, that's always our quick thing. You run you go down the steps, like, this is so annoying. And sometimes Tiffany can be gone for years, right? Years. And we've never really addressed it. Like, this is annoying. I want to use my basements for more space, or like, I know I've been listening to Kip and Derek, and I know that that something's not right. So, so what we could be categorized that is we want to know if it's something that is maybe out of adjustment, or like, wow, this this really needs address. So, a couple of points I want to bring up here is where we're talking about our ductwork. No one thinks about their ductwork, right? It's that shiny metal stuff, could be shiny, could be rusty, I don't know. Uh, up in the up in the the ceiling of your basement. And that's what's distributing your air. Very simple basics here, distributing the air to and from the different rooms throughout your home, and it's carrying the cool or warm air, depending on the seasons. And one of the things that we have to realize is when it does that, it's also expanding and contracting, right? So we do hear sometimes that can create some popping or tinging or even some of that breaking noise that you may, because it's it's mounted to your floor, which isn't moving, but the ductwork is moving slightly. And I've had this happen multiple times in my home. Uh, so it those can be those can be pretty annoying.

SPEAKER_01 5:23

Say visually, you can kind of visualize that, that that contracting and making the noise of metal in any form. So is that dangerous?

SPEAKER_00 5:31

Uh something of that nature is not necessarily what I would categorize as dangerous. So that's a good question because we want to make sure that safety is the first thing. It's like, oh, is this normal? And and if it's coming from the ductwork, for example, uh, I used to hear a noise in my family room, and it would be when the system turned off. It wasn't be when the system turned on or even run, but and it would be very inconsistent, and it would be typically in the summertime to when the ductwork became really cold at the end of the cooling cycle, then when the system would shut off, it would slowly warm up. And I heard that noise probably 20 or 30 feet away from where the furnace was. Okay, so I was trying to hunt this little sucker down and it was annoying, then it would go away. But I wasn't aware of any, or I didn't have to worry about like a safety concern at that point. So, but it's a great point because you want to do a quick visual. What's going on downstairs? Do I see anything abnormal downstairs? Uh uh touching the ductwork, leaning up on it, maybe electrical line on it, anything of that nature. These are good things to keep your eyes and ears open for.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

Cool. All right. Well, the next question that I have there is is there's a high-pitched whistling sound, and it's just driving me crazy. That's usually what people are saying. I can hear it.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

Yeah, so that's probably other than that popping and banging, that's probably one of the most common things. So whistling noises are typically from, you know, to boil it down to the most obvious, is air being distributed through a small leak or crack or a or a small opening in the ductwork, or maybe even the floor register that's in your your kitchen dining room or something like that. Maybe there's a rug over it. So as air is going around that, those can be those can be pretty problematic. And I'm pretty sure that Derek uh is going to be on one of our next episodes here. He might even be talking about some different things that could be causing that, such as maybe your air filter. So anything, a restriction or think of a think of a whistle as like wheezing, okay? I'm having trouble breathing, so I'm forcing air through some air, some area. So it's one of the maybe visual things to look at is uh, do I have things covering up registers? Do I have uh a piece of plastic stuck in one?

SPEAKER_01 7:39

I'm guilty of that. You get a new dresser, and you if you want it to be there because it looks good, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:44

And sometimes that dresser can act as like a little megaphone. So maybe it's a noise you didn't hear before, and the dresser's maybe not even causing it, or a couch sitting over top of register, but it's magnifying that noise because of the confined space that it's in. And it's like, what in the world? Are you talking about a dresser causing noises and that? It's like these are the things that we want to keep our eyes and ears open for, or a small rug or a throw rug that's half covering a register or partially things of like that, or a register that's partially sitting down in your floor, it's maybe kicked up a little bit. Um, maybe you've had some little ones throwing some toys around, or even dogs, or something like that. It can happen. So those are good things to little to to watch out for.

SPEAKER_01 8:26

Awesome. So we also hear the question um something is something loose or are rattling, shaking in there. Um, and they say in there.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

Yeah, that's a good point because in there is it is in fact in your house. So it is in there, but uh yeah, so in there that can be like, is it in my furnace? You know, and there's a good chance that it could start from there. So even like for my example, I was hearing that noise 20 or 30 feet away, and it was only when the system was turning off. Uh, fortunately, mine was in my ductwork. I was actually able to isolate it and fix the problem, but sometimes it is actually in the furnace, Tiffany. And and the reason I'm gonna kind of slow down just for a quick second, talk about that is that's really where if if we're properly maintaining a system, taking a look at a system, we are looking at those things mechanically and electrically to make sure that that noise or that noise is one, not a safety concern. That's the biggest thing. And then two, is it costing you abnormal amount of energy usage to uh uh in your system? Or and then just annoying. Yeah, it's just annoying, it's amazing how long people put up with noises in your home. Myself included, I think I did it for most of a summer before I before I finally fixed the old uh light poppy noise by the end of summer. I fixed it.

SPEAKER_01 9:37

So I know a thought process can a lot of times for these homeowners that call in is is this little noise gonna turn into something big and expensive? Is a lot of times it goes through their head.

SPEAKER_00 9:47

Well, that's a good question because I'm glad they're actually saying that because some people don't even get that far. They say, you know, is this gonna happen? Is it gonna happen? And you know, the uh the honest answer is we don't know until I we get some trained eyes on it, and we take a look at the actual performance of the system when we show up. Uh one of our technicians show up, we take a look at exactly how it is. Some people get to work too early, Tiffany. And I think what what I mean by that is, and I probably did this some of my early days of a technician, we go out for either a you know, the obvious thing, my furnace isn't working, my air conditioner isn't working, but a noise. And we start taking things apart and really we start fixing before we really diagnosed us uh whether it's addressed the symptom or diagnosed it. And when we say in there, we want to classify or identify, I should say, what in there means. Is it in the ductwork? Is it in your register? Is it in the furnace? That's why slowing down, not jumping to conclusions, doing some of the visual obvious things, trying to replicate the noise before we go in and just start like, oh, I'm gonna take all these furnace doors off, I'm gonna put a screw here, this needs tape, that needs done. We could be just chasing ourselves down through the line. So when you say in there, that's a good question. But by the fact that somebody's being intentional enough to ask it, that's a good time to get some trained eyes on it.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

All right. So the next question we have here is my system keeps clicking, and should I be worried?

SPEAKER_00 11:10

Yeah, so clicking, we love clicks, right? It makes us know that something is actually happening. We love clicks, it's a sign of production. Did it make a click? We even like when our computers click because it just feels like it's doing something, it could be melting itself down, but we feel good about clicks, right? So uh when I hear clicks, the first thing that come to mind uh is a thermostat that couldn't click. Uh, and what we mean by that is someone gets a newer system installed that maybe, or a newer thermostat put on, and maybe they took off one of those really old school ones that had maybe a mercury bubble in it and had a dial on it, you know, and those have been by the wayside for a long time, but there's still some out there. Then they get a new, a newer, just simple, basic digital thermostat on their wall, and that one makes a clicking noise, and the other one never used to make a clicking noise because it didn't have a clicker in it. So, so what we like to first say is this something you're hearing in all the rooms? Is this something you hear that's a room near your thermostat? Because people say, Oh no, it's not my thermostat. I know it's not my thermostat. It's like, well, let's make sure it's not. There are some cheaper thermostats out there that make it an unusually loud click. You'd be surprised. So that's the first thing we go to. The second thing is it's probably telling us it's initiating some type of sequence. So it's telling something to tell on. That's what a click typically is electrical contact. We want to see if it's something that's coming on that that is happening, Tiffany. Every time the furnace comes on, or is it uh when the furnace shuts off, things of that nature? Is it is it ductwork clicking from cooling down?

SPEAKER_01 12:46

But I think a majority of the ones that we do get is the furnace. They hear that they hear that click in that furnace.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

They hear the click in the furnace. Uh one, we want to make sure it's the proper clicks because they all make a little bit of noise. Especially, again, I'll reference that really old school furnace that had some kind of old school standing pile in it. They didn't make clicks, they just stayed on. So we uh we want to make sure that you know the new furnace does click. Those are re there are electrical components inside of a furnace that are made to click. Uh, that is just a source of on and off, starting the next cycle, turning a blower motor on, things of that nature.

SPEAKER_01 13:20

So like one or two clicks.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

Yeah, one or two clicks, and then you hear a sequence of operations starting. Uh, but yeah, it's it's so interesting. And it it's every system makes a little bit different of a noise, but it's so good to be in tune. This is why we're talking about inside your home. We want to be we want to be in tune with our normal noises. Hopefully, those noises are almost none. We want a nice quiet home noise, right? We're not trying to create noises. So but yeah, is it clicking? It clicks twice. It only clicked three times that time, it always you do twice. So, yeah, referencing where it's coming from. So go downstairs, be familiar.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

The changes.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

Absolutely, the changes of what's not normal and what's normal. So, hey, when I run my air conditioner, I hear two clicks instead of one click when my furnace comes on. Something's got to tell that outdoor unit to come on. So sounds a little elementary, just the word click, but it does mean a lot. And it can mean that a noise I never used to hear, and maybe I'm hearing it now.

SPEAKER_01 14:15

All right, so we're gonna move outside. So you mentioned the you know, the AC unit. So my next question is geared, you know, towards an AC unit. Um, I hear a humming, buzzing noises coming from the outside unit.

SPEAKER_00 14:26

Yeah, so humming buzzing noises, that means good things are happening, right?

SPEAKER_01 14:31

Long as it's cool inside.

SPEAKER_00 14:32

So, yeah, it's a great question because obviously, you know, the air conditioner's outside, it does make noise, it needs to turn on, it's got electrical components in it. But we want to make sure they're a steady, consistent, um, you know, the smooth hum of a motor, right? Like, what's the smooth hum of a motor? Well, we want to make sure we don't hear that that that strong buzzing noise or things like that. And what that can mean is that can mean heavy wear on a simple electrical component that typically we find on a preventative maintenance call. We're able to get way ahead of that. Uh, but the other thing would be if we do hear a a pulsing or a strong vibration noise, that could be a fan blade that's bent, maybe a tree limb fell down on top of it, a fan motor that's that's failing. Uh the fact that you're hearing the noises means it's functioning, so that's that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_01 15:18

I think get that again. We're seeing the common theme here of you know, maybe it's louder or a lot of things can be normal, but it seems like when it starts to change or something becomes louder, that's when maybe give us a call. Um the next thing is you know high-pitched squealing noises. Now, is that normal?

SPEAKER_00 15:37

Well, high-pitched squealing noises, we hope are not normal because I don't like high-pitched squealing noises. Yeah, I don't like them in my car, and I sure don't like them in my heating and air conditioning system or in my home. So uh something like that. Typically, we we are attributing that towards some metal interference. My blower motor downstairs is is having some interference, the metal is rubbing on there, we've got a loose panel. That's something that needs to be addressed. And if it does continue, becomes loud, that's where the system should probably be shut off. And then, you know, call if one of our technicians out, we're able to take a look at it. But I wouldn't go into trying to take panels off, things like that. But yeah, that is a that's a really key thing because again, go back to the vehicle reference. Let's say you're driving uh your your spouse's car, you haven't driven in a month or so, and you get in, you're like, what is that noise? And they're like, What do you mean? I don't hear a noise, right? It's that same radar that you have, and we've really got to be at to pay attention to that. So if yeah, we're hearing some of that stuff, we're gonna have to shut the unit off.

SPEAKER_01 16:35

Okay, Kip. So the last one that I got for you is I hear a noise coming from my electrical panel.

SPEAKER_00 16:40

Electrical panels? Yeah, electrical panels don't make move.

SPEAKER_01 16:43

I don't know. That's what I'm asking you. Is it normal?

SPEAKER_00 16:45

It doesn't move, it's been in the same spot the whole time. Actually, I'm not even sure where my electrical panel is. We hear so that's a good question because we don't want to be hearing noises from there, although there's a lot going on there. That's the center hub of every light switch you flip, every refrigerator or microwave you plug in, every furnace or air conditioner that turns on is originally tied back to that electrical panel. So that's a good question. So, one, we shouldn't hear any type of substantial noise coming from them. There is a lot of electricity flowing through there. And based on the durability of that unit, is it properly sized and is it does it still have its integrity? Uh, we should not be hearing noises from there. Now, you say, like, what what would you be maintaining on the electrical system? It kind of sounds weird. It's down the corner. I snap breakers and do things when our Christmas lights get plugged in. I know I have to flip this one because so this happens. And those are all normal homeowner things, but there's what things we like to, you know, keep an eye out for, if you will, and an ear out for. Thanks. Is uh when we hear noises, or maybe breakers are flipping intermittently, or we have severe discoloration down there, is we take the electrical cover off, we check for any water intrusion, things of that nature, because that wire is hooked to a wire that goes outside your home, which is hooked to a pole, etc. And we want to make sure that nothing's in nothing is intruding in there and causing corrosion, which adds to all those noises that you hear. And and unfortunately, we hear it sometimes when only when this appliance is running, or only when I have these lights on downstairs. Nothing's buzzing until I have lights on downstairs. And I hear this little annoying thing, and that's something to really pay attention to. And it's it's again, we're back in the home. We're we're we're paying attention to our home. We're having what's what's making a noise that didn't used to make a noise. So yeah, uh, buzzing, cracking, sizzling, uh, weird pulsing.

SPEAKER_01 18:45

Like you said, it should be quiet.

SPEAKER_00 18:47

It should be quiet, 100%.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

It's a little bit opposite from the ACs and the furnaces. It should be 100% quiet. So if we're hearing noises, that's a good indication to give us a call. And that is that something that we do as uh like electrical inspection.

SPEAKER_00 19:01

Yeah, absolutely. So that is one of the key things we do. We pull the cover off the electrical panel, kind of see the heartbeat of what's going on inside there. We're actually able to test those circuits, make sure they're grounded properly, things of that nature. Um 100% peace of mind because there aren't a lot of warning signs on that, Tiffany. There's there's some things, the obvious things by buzzing, but more than likely you're gonna see lights pulsing, you're gonna have some receptacles working, some not. It's so worth having that quick inspection on there because ground rods can get disconnected outside the home. You do landscape. There's a lot of small things out there that don't have the big warning light that maybe that popping ductwork has that we talked about earlier.

unknown 19:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

So um, man, this has been probably some of the more uh it just I love the basic stuff that we get to talk about because I love using those car analogies to where we're what did we hear? What did we not hear? Uh so let's keep our eyes and ears open as we're turning our air conditioning systems on, go downstairs, listen to your system. Did you hear that sound last year? It doesn't mean it's normal because you just heard it last year. Um, but that is uh that that is what we're trying to bring light to here, guys. I am excited to serve you guys in the home, answer any questions that you have. I hope this brought some light to it. Go downstairs or look in your attic if you need to, educate yourselves, guys. And I think that's gonna be a the most profitability towards you, towards having a great system running this summer, changing your filter, whatever is causing that noise, being ahead of the game. I appreciate you guys listening. Thanks for listening today for inside your home with Shanklin Heating. Uh, in our next episode, we are gonna dive into your actual AC system. Some of those some of those questions might get answered in there about your noise. It's running but not cooling. Next episode. We'll see you guys then next time, right here inside your home. Our family is always here for you at Shanklin Heating and Air Conditioning. Give us a call or visit us at shanklinheating.com.