If you’re discovering a odor 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 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. The 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 referred to as dirty sock syndrome. You can avoid this by scheduling regular 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 problem
Electrical problems are serious, so turn your heat pump system off immediately at the breaker box and call us at 402-581-9641 for heat pump repair.
3. The Heat Pump Smells Like Rotten Eggs
Normally when you are dealing with a rotten egg smell, you’re dealing with a gas leak. But your heat pump doesn’t use natural gas. If your heat pump smells like sulfur, a small animal may have creeped inside it for warmth and died. One of our Interstate Heating & Air Conditioning experts can get rid of the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. My Heat Pump Smells Like a Sewer
As we mentioned earlier, 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 have a backed-up or broken sewer line. We advise contacting a company that does sewer line repair.
5. My Heat Pump Smells Burnt
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 402-581-9641.
6. Why Your Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we talked about above, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need cleaning. You might experience this smell when your heat pump goes into defrost mode.
It’s common for your heat pump to have to switch 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 ac to get rid of the frost.
Having a Interstate Heating & Air Conditioning HVAC technician clean the coils will help get rid of the odor.
Depend on for Your Heat Pump Repair Needs
It can be difficult to troubleshoot your heat pump by alone. Your comfort matters to us at Interstate Heating & Air Conditioning, so you can count on our specialists to assist you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in Omaha that you can depend on, call us at 402-581-9641.