Recently my fans have been running constantly at a quite low but audible volume (a volume that I am willing to put up with). I have a HP 14-cf2000 Laptop PC. The noise is the fan spinning but s usually accompanied by a random noise that I would describe as gritty and buzzing, much higher pitch than the fan from the centre of the vent that sounds like a CD scratching, and quiet (I have to put my ear up to where the fan is to hear it clearly). I assume this is dirt/dust in the fan. The fan can run at higher speeds and does increase in volume and intensity (such as during cpu stress test and updates). It could also possibly be a wire snagging on the fan as I move the laptop around my house a lot. If so, would this be an urgent matter? Could the fan cut through the wire?
The temperatures are all within normal range (26, 26 and 20 degrees celsius as I'm typing with only edge open) and the fan averages 1700-1800 rpm with normal usage (browsing mostly, I haven't checked the rpm during online meetings/apps that are harder on cpu but can if it would be useful). CPU averages at 5-20%, fan stays the same through these. The laptop speed is the same as always and other than it needing to be powered on again when I close the lid (put it to sleep) nothing has changed, but I don't mind that. All drivers and laptop are up-to-date, the laptop has consistently passed all hardware diagnostics tests, memory is fairly empty and it has only been in use since Boxing Day last year (so around a month and a half).
My hard drive is an SSD so wouldn't make any noise to my knowledge. I think the cause is using it mostly on my bed for the last month without something hard underneath, which in my research into the problem I have read can cause dust to accumulate a lot faster. I am now using my laptop with a hardcover notebook underneath when not at a desk so the vents have space.
Main question is is this an urgent issue that I should get seen to now, or should I just keep an eye on internal temperatures and performance and keep regularly running diagnostics tests until I can get it looked at by a professional? I am coming into some money (government grant) at the start of May which will definitely cover any cleaning/fan replacement (its around a grand and I don't desperately need it for anything else other than an external hard drive) but right now I need my laptop more urgently as all lessons are online and I have no money to personally pay for a repair at the moment. My parents would likely (reluctantly) be willing to cover it if there was an urgent need and I would obviously pay them back as soon as I could. I don't want to open the laptop myself as I am bad with technology in a hardware sense so I don't want to cause more damage to it.
Also, should I refrain from using any programs that put my cpu under strain (ie Blender rendering)? These programs usually run okay in normal circumstances but I wouldn't want to put any pressure on my fan if it could cause immediate damage.
If you have any more suggestions of things to try I would be grateful to hear them and willing to try anything easy (not BIOS in case I can't reopen my laptop and as previously mentioned because I don't mind the noise, just don't want further damage).
