The average homeowner doesn't give their heating system much thought until the system begins to malfunction. Routine maintenance and immediate repairs are needed to keep your furnace working properly. The sooner you are able to identify a potential problem and contact an HVAC technician for help, the less damage your heating system will sustain.

One of the easiest ways to determine when your furnace is in need of repair is to listen closely to the sounds being produced by the furnace itself.

If you hear any of the following noises coming from your furnace, the furnace is emitting distress signals that you shouldn't ignore.

1. Banging

A loud bang or pop produced when your furnace kicks on should be cause for concern. The banging or popping sound can be traced back to a number of problems within your heating system. One potential cause of banging from your furnace could be a dirty burner.

Dirt that accumulates on the burner over time can delay the ignition of your furnace. This results in a buildup of fuel within the burner chamber. When the burner finally does ignite, the excess gas will cause a small explosion. Repeated explosions inside the burner chamber can threaten the integrity of your heat exchanger, which is a costly component to replace.

An HVAC technician can inspect your furnace for evidence of dirt and give the burners a thorough cleaning to prevent major damage. Contact a professional for help as soon as you hear a loud banging or popping sound coming from your furnace.

2. Squealing

Squealing is another sound that you should listen for when evaluating the condition of your heating system. Most audible squeals in modern furnaces can be traced back to problems with the blower. The blower is responsible for pushing air into your home's air ducts after it has been heated.

A motor powers the blower fan. If the motor isn't maintained regularly, it can begin to fail. Squealing sounds are your furnace communicating to you that the blower motor is in need of maintenance or repair.

The shaft bearings in the motor could require lubrication, the blower belt could be deteriorated and need replacing, or the fan motor could need to be replaced if the furnace squeals. An experienced HVAC technician will be able to determine why your furnace is squealing and make any repairs needed to restore the efficiency of your heating system.

3. Scraping

The scraping sound of metal against metal coming from your furnace can be serious. If you allow your furnace to continue running while making scraping sounds, you are putting your heating system at risk of sustaining serious damage that might require the replacement of the furnace as a whole.

There are a few things that might create a scraping sound within your furnace. A broken motor mount can cause the blower motor to come loose during operation. The vibration from the motor will produce excessive movement, putting the integrity of the blower motor at risk.

It is also possible for the blower wheel to break and produce a scraping sound as it hits the metal casing around it. If repairs are not made immediately, a loose or broken blower wheel could cause irreparable damage to the blower motor.

You don't have to be an HVAC technician to identify when your heating system is in distress. You can listen for strange sounds like banging, squealing, or scraping coming from your furnace while it is in operation to help determine the health of your heating system.

Contact a heating system repair contractor as soon as you hear any unusual sounds coming from your furnace. This will help minimize damage and restore the efficiency of your heating system.