If you’re recognizing a odor from your heat pump, it’s attempting to tell you that something is wrong. We’ve put together a list of the most commonly encountered six heat pump smells, what causes them and how you can repair them.
- Heat pump smells musty
- Heat pump smells like fish
- Heat pump smells like sulfur
- Heat pump smells like sewer
- Heat pump smells like burning
- Heat pump defrost cycle smells
1. Heat Pump Smells Musty
If your heat pump smells musty, there’s probably mold growing on damp evaporator coils or in the ductwork. This heat pump odor is often referred to as dirty sock syndrome. You can deter this by scheduling frequent heat pump maintenance and air duct cleaning.
2. Heat Pump Smells Like Fish
If your heat pump smells like fish, there could be a few things wrong:
- Overheated motor
- Wiring problems
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical difficulties
Electrical problems are serious, so turn your heat pump system off as soon as possible at the breaker box and get a hold of us at for heat pump repair.
3. Heat Pump Smells Like Sulfur
Usually when you smell a rotten egg smell, you have a gas leak. But your heat pump doesn’t run on natural gas. If your heat pump smells like sulfur, a little animal may have creeped inside it for warmth and died. One of our House of Heating Incorporated [techs can remove the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. Heat Pump Smells Like Sewer
As we reviewed above, your heat pump is electric, so any rotten egg smells are connected to a gas leak in another place. If your heat pump smells like sewer, you might be dealing with a backed-up or broken sewer line. We recommend getting in touch with a company that does sewer line repair.
5. Heat Pump Smells Like Burning
You might be dealing with an electrical issue if your heat pump smells like burning, burning plastic or burning rubber. This burning smell can be due to melting plastic on electrical wires. Electrical problems in HVAC systems are serious and could lead to a fire. If you notice this smell, shut off your heat pump at the breaker and call us at .
6. Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we talked about earlier, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need cleaning. You might notice this smell when your heat pump is in defrost mode.
It’s typical for your heat pump to have to switch on defrost mode during heating season. When the air is much cooler, frost can form rapidly on the coils from condensation and impede heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump shortly switches to air conditioning to get rid of the frost.
Having a House of Heating Incorporated HVAC technician clean the coils will help get rid of the odor.
Trust Us with Your Heat Pump Repair Needs
It can be hard to troubleshoot your heat pump by alone. Your comfort matters to us at House of Heating Incorporated, so you can count on our professionals to help you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in that you can depend on, call us at .