If you’re discovering a smell from your heat pump, it’s trying to tell you that something is wrong. We’ve developed 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 Smells Like Mold
If your heat pump smells musty, there’s likely mold growing on moist evaporator coils or in the ductwork. This heat pump odor is often referred to as dirty sock syndrome. You can prevent this by scheduling regular heat pump maintenance and air duct cleaning.
2. My Heat Pump Smells Like Fish
If your heat pump smells like fish, there could be a couple of things wrong:
- Overheated motor
- Wiring problems
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical difficulties
Electrical problems are dangerous, so shut your heat pump system off as soon as possible at the breaker box and call us at 203-357-5913 for heat pump repair.
3. My Heat Pump Smells Like Sulfur
Usually when you have a rotten egg smell, you’ve got a gas leak. But your heat pump doesn’t run on natural gas. If your heat pump smells like sulfur, a small animal may have creeped inside it for warmth and died. One of our Central Air LLC experts can eliminate the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. Your Heat Pump Has a Sewage Smell
As we reviewed earlier, your heat pump is electric, so any rotten egg smells are linked to a gas leak elsewhere. If your heat pump smells like sewer, you might be dealing with a backed-up or broken sewer line. We advise contacting a company that does sewer line repair.
5. Your Heat Pump Has a Burnt Plastic/Rubber Smell
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 call us at 203-357-5913.
6. Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we mentioned earlier, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need sanitizing. You might notice this smell when your heat pump has defrost mode.
It’s ordinary for your heat pump to have to switch on defrost mode during heating season. When the air is much cooler, frost can form quickly on the coils from condensation and interfere with heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump briefly switches to air conditioning to get rid of the frost.
Having a Central Air LLC 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 all by yourself. Your comfort matters to us at Central Air LLC, so you can count on our professionals to support you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in Brookfield that you can depend on, call us at 203-357-5913.