If you’re discovering a smell from your heat pump, it’s attempting to tell you that something is up. We’ve created a list of the top 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. My Heat Pump Smells Musty
If your heat pump smells musty, there’s likely mold growing on wet 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. Your Heat Pump Smells Like Fish
If your heat pump smells like fish, there could be a couple of things wrong:
- Motor is too hot
- Wiring problem
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical issue
Electrical problems are unsafe, so shut your heat pump system off right away at the breaker box and call us at 918-212-8943 for heat pump repair.
3. The Heat Pump Has a Rotten Egg Smell
Often 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 little animal may have crawled inside it for warmth and died. One of our Air Service Co. experts can eliminate the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. Your Heat Pump Has a Sewage Smell
As we discussed before, your heat pump is electric, so any rotten egg smells are tied to a gas leak in another place. If your heat pump smells like sewer, you might have a backed-up or broken sewer line. We suggest calling a company that does sewer line repair.
5. The Heat Pump Smells Like Burning
You might be dealing with 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 issues in HVAC systems are unsafe and could result in a fire. If you notice this smell, turn off your heat pump at the breaker and contact us at 918-212-8943.
6. Why Your Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we discussed above, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need cleaning. You might encounter this smell when your heat pump is in defrost mode.
It’s ordinary for your heat pump to have to turn on defrost mode during heating season. When the air is much cooler, frost can form fast on the coils from condensation and restrict heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump briefly switches to cooling to get rid of the frost.
Having a Air Service Co. HVAC technician clean the coils will help eliminate the odor.
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 Air Service Co., so you can count on our experts to help you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in Muldrow that you can rely on, call us at 918-212-8943.
