How to Deal with Noisy Air Vents
08/06/2021
If you’ve never had to deal with noisy air vents while the air conditioning or the heat is running, then you’re a lucky person, indeed. The truth is that many air vents can grow rather loud, sometimes with a flapping sound, a rattling sound, or a high-pitched humming. While no HVAC system is entirely silent, there is such a thing as too much noise. Thankfully, there are a few common causes of noisy air vents, which makes it fairly simple for an HVAC company like Air Services to fix the issue.
Why Your Air Vents are Noisy
The simple answer is that most noise-related issues with air vents center around an obstruction somewhere. In nearly every situation, an airflow restriction is causing irritating sounds. More specifically, these can include:
- A dirty air filter – A dirty or clogged air filter can interrupt proper airflow, which can then lead to noisy ductwork. Make sure you’re changing your air filter monthly to optimize performance.
- Closed air dampers or registers – Many people like to close off registers in rooms that run too hot or too cold, and while closing one or two isn’t likely to massively impact how air flows through a home, closing many can put too much pressure on the open registers. That, naturally, can generate noise.
- Sagging or bent flex ducts – Improperly installed or old ductwork can sag or bend, and when that happens it’s harder for the system to move the air around as intended. The added static pressure can generate noise.
- Debris in the ductwork – Any clunking or rattling could be caused by debris that was either left there by construction workers or accidentally dropped down into the ducts during cleaning or by curious children.
How Air Services Can Deal with Noisy Air Vents
Some of these are easy to fix. Sliding in a new air filter takes 30 seconds, for example, and opening a few closed registers is simple as leaning over and sliding them open. However, if these things don’t fix the problem, there are some things the professionals at Air Services can do.
- Clean the ductwork – Debris in your ductwork can cause rattling and thumping, and thorough cleaning can work wonders in removing whatever nails, screws, small toys, or old, hard food bits are causing the problem.
- Adjust the fan speed – If your HVAC system is delivering too much airflow, it can overtax your ducts and registers and result in some excess noise. Lowering the speed of your fan a bit can help resolve the issue.
- Add ductwork – Sometimes, some HVAC duct installation work can provide a solution when the existing ductwork is too small to accommodate the necessary volume of air. Appropriately sized ductwork decreases the pressure within the system and makes it quieter.
- Add, expand, or upgrade registers – Sometimes, the issue is with the registers themselves. We can find ways to add more registers to relieve pressure on your existing ones, or we can expand the size of your registers to better help air escape.
If you are dealing with noisy air vents and would like some help in figuring out how to quiet things down, just give us a call here at Air Services so we can track down the problem and get to work on fixing it!