In this solo episode of the Ask Derek Cole Show, Derek addresses homeowners who hear unusual sounds from their heating, ventilation, and air‑conditioning (HVAC) system. He describes the typical noises—rattling, banging, squealing, hissing—and links each to likely problems such as loose connections, refrigerant leaks, motor wear, or failing components. Derek stresses that any abnormal sound warrants a professional inspection, especially since HVAC units do not self‑repair. He recommends bi‑annual maintenance visits, advises callers to report the exact noise and its timing to the technician, and warns against dismissing a noise that later stops. The episode concludes with a call for viewers to submit questions via comments or the #AskDerekCole hashtag.
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Hey, on this episode we're talking about the strange noises you're hearing from your HVAC system. You ask your comfort and energy questions and they get answered. This is the Ask Derrick Cole Show. Hey, and welcome to episode 110 of the Ask Derrick Cole Show, answering your home and energy questions. And today we're talking about the Strange noises you're hearing from your HVAC system. What does it mean? You're hearing strange noises. It's probably like a rattling, or it could be like a banging, or maybe even a squealing noise, right? What is that? What does that mean for my system? Well, well, it could be a few things. If you hear strange noises, you definitely want to call a professional. First of all, you should be getting your unit, right, your unit serviced twice a year to help prevent some of these problems. But if you're hearing things, you're hearing these different things, and, uh, is it the banging? Is it a squealing noise? What's happening? Well, it could be a loose connection. The unit could be losing refrigerant. You could hear kind of a hissing or kind of a noise. It could be a refrigerant leak. You could hear a squealing noise, or it could be a motor going out, or a part, a component going out. If you hear the motor squealing, that, that is a sign that you have a problem. But any of these noises are not normal. So if you hear anything, if you hear anything out of the ordinary, you need to call a professional, have them come look at your system, because it's not self-healing. You know, I say it all the time when people say, my car did this and now my car's not doing that anymore. Well, there are no self-healing cars. There are no self-healing heating and air units. So if you hear a noise and then you don't hear it, don't ignore it. Get it checked out by a professional. And especially if it's time for that routine maintenance, which you should be doing what, twice a year, make sure you tell the technician what you're hearing and where you are hearing it. Chances are he's probably not going to hear it, but if it's a motor going bad, if it's a squealing motor, the amp draws might be running a little higher and that could lead him to what the problem is. So don't totally dismiss the noise because it stopped. Make sure you tell that tech what's going on, when you heard it, and at the best you can, uh, try to tell them what it sounded like. That's episode 110 of the Ask Derral Cole Show. If you have any questions, be sure to leave in the comments or hashtag #AskDerekCole and we'll get them on the show.
