6 Heat Pump Smells and What They Might Mean

If you’re discovering a smell from your heat pump, it’s trying to tell you that something is wrong. We’ve created a list of the most popular six heat pump smells, what causes them and how you can repair them.

1. Heat pump smells musty
2. Heat pump smells like fish
3. Heat pump smells like sulfur
4. Heat pump smells like sewer
5. Heat pump smells like burning
6. Heat pump defrost cycle smells

1. The Heat Pump Smells Musty

If your heat pump smells musty, there’s likely mold growing on moist evaporator coils or in the ductwork. This heat pump odor is often known as dirty sock syndrome. You can prevent this by scheduling routine heat pump maintenance and air duct cleaning.

2. The Heat Pump Has a Fishy Smell

If your heat pump smells like fish, there could be a few things wrong:

• Motor is too hot
• Wiring problem
• Plastic components or coating is melting
• Other mechanical issue

Electrical problems are serious, so shut your heat pump system off as soon as possible at the breaker box and call us at 256-946-4631 for heat pump repair.

3. The Heat Pump Has a Rotten Egg Smell

Often when you smell a rotten egg smell, you’re dealing with a gas leak. But your heat pump doesn’t run on natural gas. If your heat pump smells like sulfur, a small animal may have gotten inside it for warmth and died. One of our Bain Heating & Air Conditioning technicians can remove the smell by cleaning your heat pump.

4. Your Heat Pump Smells Like Sewage

As we mentioned earlier, 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 currently have a backed-up or broken sewer line. We advise contacting a company that does sewer line repair.

5. Your Heat Pump Has a Burnt Plastic/Rubber Smell

You might be dealing with an electrical problem 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 troubles in HVAC systems are dangerous and could cause a fire. If you notice this smell, turn off your heat pump at the breaker and contact us at 256-946-4631.

6. Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells

Like we talked about above, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need sanitizing. 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 colder, frost can form rapidly on the coils from condensation and impede heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump shortly switches to ac to remove the frost.

Having a Bain Heating & Air Conditioning HVAC technician clean the coils will help eliminate the smell.

Depend on for Your Heat Pump Repair Needs

It can be hard to troubleshoot your heat pump by yourself. Your comfort matters to us at Bain Heating & Air Conditioning, so you can count on our experts to support you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in Heflin that you can count on, call us at (256) 363-2232.

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