If you’re noticing a smell from your heat pump, it’s attempting to tell you that something is wrong. We’ve developed a list of the most commonly encountered six heat pump smells, what causes them and how you can correct 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 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 problems
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical problem
Electrical problems are serious, so shut your heat pump system off as soon as possible at the breaker box and contact us at for heat pump repair.
3. Heat Pump Smells Like Sulfur
Normally when you are dealing with a rotten egg smell, you have a gas leak. But your heat pump doesn’t utilize natural gas. If your heat pump smells like sulfur, a small animal may have creeped inside it for warmth and died. One of our Assured Appliance & Heating & Air [techs can remove the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. Heat Pump Smells Like Sewer
As we discussed before, your heat pump is electric, so any rotten egg smells are connected to a gas leak somewhere else. If your heat pump smells like sewer, you might have a backed-up or broken sewer line. We suggest contacting a company that does sewer line repair.
5. Heat Pump Smells Like Burning
You might have an electrical concern 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 troubles in HVAC systems are unsafe and could result in a fire. If you notice this smell, shut off your heat pump at the breaker and contact us at .
6. Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we talked about earlier, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need sanitizing. You might encounter 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 briefly switches to air conditioning to get rid of the frost.
Having a Assured Appliance & Heating & Air HVAC technician clean the coils will help eliminate the odor.
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 Assured Appliance & Heating & Air, so you can count on our specialists to help you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in that you can depend on, call us at .
