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If you’re discovering a odor from your heat pump, it’s attempting to tell you that something is up. We’ve developed a list of the most popular six heat pump smells, what causes them and how you can fix 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 most likely mold growing on damp evaporator coils or in the ductwork. This heat pump odor is often called dirty sock syndrome. You can prevent this by scheduling routine 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:
- Motor is too hot
- Wiring issue
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical difficulties
Electrical problems are unsafe, so turn your heat pump system off immediately at the breaker box and get a hold of us at for heat pump repair.
3. Heat Pump Smells Like Sulfur
Often when you smell a rotten egg smell, you have a gas leak. But your heat pump doesn’t use natural gas. If your heat pump smells like sulfur, a tiny animal may have gotten inside it for warmth and died. One of our AC Sales technicians can eliminate the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. Heat Pump Smells Like Sewer
As we mentioned before, your heat pump is electric, so any rotten egg smells are tied to a gas leak elsewhere. If your heat pump smells like sewer, you might currently have a backed-up or broken sewer line. We advise 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 caused by melting plastic on electrical wires. Electrical problems in HVAC systems are unsafe and could cause a fire. If you notice this smell, turn off your heat pump at the breaker and get a hold of us at .
6. Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we mentioned previously, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need cleaning. You might notice this smell when your heat pump has 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 quickly on the coils from condensation and restrict heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump temporarily switches to ac to remove the frost.
Having a AC Sales HVAC technician clean the coils will help get rid of the smell.
Depend on for Your Heat Pump Repair Needs
It can be difficult to troubleshoot your heat pump by yourself. Your comfort matters to us at AC Sales, 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 .