Is it very cold there? We lived in a stone house several years ago that had some minor settling cracks. After a winter rain it dropped to below zero, and the rain in the cracks expanded as it froze. That made a tremendous, startling noise. We at first thought it was gunfire.

Whevever it gets extremely cold out my house and those of my friends the house will make banging noises. Last time it happened was a few years ago when we had a polar vortex and the temps were way below freezing. My house is a wood frame house

Any kids that play the drums in the household?

Sometimes sheet metal HVAC duct flexes and can make a noise but it isn't usually all that loud. It sounds like striking a metal garbage can. Could that be the source?

There is an oil filled radiator style space heater at the condo we are renting. I turn it on in the mornings to ward of the morning chill. It makes a banging noise after it's been turned off and is cooling down. The first time I heard it, I thought someone had thrown a rock at one of the windows.

DH thought it might be raccoons. I don't know how they would get in there though. Just the other day I was sitting here and I heard a noise. I thought, what was that? A little later I went in my bedroom and one of the drawers had fallen out of the dresser and fell on the carper. I think it is time for a new dresser.

It might have been coming from outside. Thunder snow?

A single loud snap or maybe a sound like something hitting the side of the house can happen in very cold weather, especially when the temperature drops 10 to 15F degrees in an hour most often in the early part of the night. Its the contraction of structural elements of the house, usually the roof parts. When the roof trusses contract, there can be noises generated from small slippages. Since your noise has happened several times, I'm guessing ti was due to thermally induced dimension changes. I've had singularly loud noises to occur on rare occasions and that was due to cracking of the basement floor or wall induced by slow, long term settling. I have a an attached garage and when its floor cracked, that produced a loud noise as well.

We had a spot in our hardwood floor which apparently moved in conjunction with the temperature. Pretty much every day at the same time it would let out one loud bang. It took me awhile to figure out what it was.

Now I think it might be the furnace? I don't know! It's frustrating. I just happened while I was watching tv and i can't figure out where it is coming from.

What sort of furnace. I lived in a house with an old oil furnace and it used to have some sort of ignition issue that caused bangs. I would get it checked out just on principle. the one in that house eventually sort of blew up. I kept asking for a check up and was told that couldn't happen.

If it is really cold where you are and you have a deck, the warping can sound like a gunshot.

Annie, several years ago we had the same thing. We would hear a loud bang! Once a day, sometimes twice a day. At first we thought it was a truck outside, or some construction material that had been dropped. Or maybe it was in the house. We could only tell that it came from the East. Well, after a couple of weeks we narrowed it to somewhere around the furnace.

So we called our furnace guy. Came right out and it was a cracked heat exchanger. Had it continued it could have been dangerous. They replaced it, it was under warranty which is good because they are expensive and weight a couple hundred pounds.

It‘s hard to narrow down when it only bangs once or twice a day, but maybe this will give you a hint to listen for.

Thanks--I'm going to get it looked at it--it's making me crazy and nervous.

Let us know when you solve the mystery!

My furnace is pretty old. I would say 25 years plus. So maybe that is it. I've gone through every room, checked the siding, checked trees, listened to pipes. I'm a loony-tune in here. I really appreciate everyone helping me out. Will keep you posted.

If it’s sub-zero, freezing ground outside can make a boom, too.

If you have a frame house, it could be contraction/expending...I have that occasionally also and it does make me jump.

Do you have a carbon monoxide alarm in your house? If not get one especially if it could be furnace related.

Some thing loose on the roof? Shingles or flashing etc.

Any big trees that might be close to falling?

i have a carbon monoxide detector in the furnace room--it hasn't gone off--in all the bedrooms and in the family room. It's just so weird. I do have the loud furnace sounds from ductwork but this is very different.

My house will make a crack noise once in a while when the south side heats up from sunlight but it is a sharp sound. the furnace was more muffled bang but it was in a basement. I had moved before it finally went but it still makes me mad. I kept telling maintenance that something was wrong. Hopefully not your problem and it never hurts to get your furnace serviced.

DH says it could be water hammer but I think if you haven't had it before?

Annie, you reminded me that when we called the furnace company the first couple of times, they said it was the ductwork. I said no, it doesn't sound like that. Finally they came out and did a full inspection.

Carbon monoxide in a home comes from a gas burning appliance that's poorly adjusted and/or poorly vented. Or, from a hole or crack in a forced air furnace's heat exchanger. If there is an improper CO buildup, it shouldn't lead to any noises.

> So we called our furnace guy. Came right out and it was a cracked heat
exchanger. Had it continued it could have been dangerous. They replaced
it, it was under warranty which is good because they are expensive and
weight a couple hundred pounds.

A high school teacher of mine said he had worked previously for a HVAC company and that that particular company would declare that every forced air furnace they looked at had a cracked heat exchanger. After witnessing this policy in action he quit to pursue another career.

My local Facebook has a long post about this very thing this evening. It’s really cold today with a heavy layer of ice. The sun shone brightly all day and I think it got up to 14 degrees. As soon as the sun went down, houses started popping, booming, banging or whatever. More than 20 people in my little town posted on FB that they heard the noises coming from their own homes.

Sorry, it's 28 degrees right now. It was in the high 30s today and it is going down to 21 tonight. It was sunny today.

As that water underground suddenly freezes into ice, it then expands, causing the surrounding soil and rock to crack.

The cracking is what produces the loud noises -- or the "frost quake." Did you hear loud booms or banging sounds

"worked previously for a HVAC company and that that particular company would declare that every forced air furnace they looked at had a cracked heat exchanger."

Most furnace manufacturers have a warranty specific to the heat exchanger for some period of time but I think often the homeowner needs to pay for the labor. It's not a difficult or time consuming task, I think a few hours at most. But it's an example of why it's important to deal with reputable HVAC companies. They're not all crooks but too many are.

Bob and Elmer, we didn’t pay for anything. We have been with the company for a long time, I would hope they don’t lead us astray. But I suppose one never knows.

Once it happened to us, we just could not figure out what it was. Finally found an old end table had split straight down the middle. Do you have an attic? You might have someone or you look up there. We had a rafter crack once.

I live in an area with several lakes and we have "ice quakes". Occasionally, when a lake freezes over and its ice expands, it may burst forming a ridge near the center of the lake. This happens more often on lakes with vertical walls along its perimeter. These walls contain the ice and resists outward movement putting pressure on the ice sheet. Something has to give and if its the ice, it will burst making a booming sound and minor earthquake. This sudden bursting without warning is a known hazard to those who iceboats or sail skates. For lakes with gentle sloping beaches, the ice merely slides up on shore and may crack.

My fridge makes that kind of noise from time to time--it's quite loud. It's probably the compressor ready to quit on us but so far, so good. :)