If you’re recognizing a odor from your heat pump, it’s trying to tell you that something is up. We’ve put together a list of the top 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 most likely mold growing on moist evaporator coils or in the ductwork. This heat pump odor is often known as dirty sock syndrome. You can deter this by scheduling frequent heat pump maintenance and air duct cleaning.
2. Heat Pump Smells Like Fish
If your heat pump smells like fish, there could be several things wrong:
- Overheated motor
- Wiring issue
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical issue
Electrical problems are unsafe, so shut your heat pump system off as soon as possible at the breaker box and call us at for heat pump repair.
3. Heat Pump Smells Like Sulfur
Usually when you are dealing with a rotten egg smell, you’ve got a gas leak. But your heat pump doesn’t utilize natural gas. If your heat pump smells like sulfur, a tiny animal may have crawled inside it for warmth and died. One of our West Michigan Heating & Air Conditioning Services technicians can remove the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. Heat Pump Smells Like Sewer
As we mentioned before, your heat pump is electric, so any rotten egg smells are connected 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 getting in touch with a company that does sewer line repair.
5. Heat Pump Smells Like Burning
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 caused by melting plastic on electrical wires. Electrical troubles in HVAC systems are dangerous and could lead to a fire. If you notice this smell, turn off your heat pump at the breaker and contact us at .
6. Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we discussed above, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need to be cleaned. You might notice this smell when your heat pump goes into defrost mode.
It’s ordinary for your heat pump to have to use defrost mode during heating season. When the air is much colder, frost can form rapidly on the coils from condensation and interfere with heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump temporarily switches to air conditioning to remove the frost.
Having a West Michigan Heating & Air Conditioning Services HVAC technician clean the coils will help get rid of the odor.
Trust Us with Your Heat Pump Repair Needs
It can be difficult to troubleshoot your heat pump by all by yourself. Your comfort matters to us at West Michigan Heating & Air Conditioning Services, so you can count on our professionals to assist you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in that you can rely on, call us at .
