If you’re discovering a smell from your heat pump, it’s trying to tell you that something is up. We’ve created 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. Your Heat Pump Has a Musty Smell
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 regular heat pump maintenance and air duct cleaning.
2. The Heat Pump Smells Fishy/Rotten
If your heat pump smells like fish, there could be several things wrong:
- Overheated motor
- Wiring problems
- 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 256-270-1196 for heat pump repair.
3. The Heat Pump Smells Like Sulfur
Usually when you are dealing with 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 gotten inside it for warmth and died. One of our Bain Heating & Air Conditioning technicians can get rid of the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. Your Heat Pump Has a Sewage Smell
As we mentioned above, 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 calling a company that does sewer line repair.
5. Your Heat Pump Has a Burnt Plastic/Rubber Smell
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 issues in HVAC systems are dangerous and could cause a fire. If you notice this smell, turn off your heat pump at the breaker and call us at 256-270-1196.
6. Why Your Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we mentioned previously, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need to be cleaned. You might encounter this smell when your heat pump has defrost mode.
It’s common for your heat pump to have to use defrost mode during heating season. When the air is much colder, frost can form quickly on the coils from condensation and impede heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump shortly switches to air conditioning to clear away the frost.
Having a Bain Heating & Air Conditioning HVAC technician clean the coils will help get rid of the smell.
Trust Us with Your Heat Pump Repair Needs
It can be difficult to troubleshoot your heat pump by alone. Your comfort matters to us at Bain Heating & Air Conditioning, so you can count on our experts to help you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in Heflin that you can depend on, call us at 256-270-1196.
