If you’re recognizing a smell 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 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. 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 called dirty sock syndrome. You can avoid 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:
- Motor is too hot
- Wiring problem
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical difficulties
Electrical problems are serious, so shut your heat pump system off right away at the breaker box and contact us at for heat pump repair.
3. Heat Pump Smells Like Sulfur
Usually when you are dealing with a rotten egg smell, you have a gas leak. But your heat pump doesn’t use natural gas. If your heat pump smells like sulfur, a little animal may have gotten inside it for warmth and died. One of our Central Air LLC technicians can get rid of the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. Heat Pump Smells Like Sewer
As we mentioned above, your heat pump is electric, so any rotten egg smells are tied to a gas leak somewhere else. If your heat pump smells like sewer, you might have a backed-up or broken sewer line. We recommend 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 dangerous and could lead to a fire. If you notice this smell, shut off your heat pump at the breaker and get a hold of us at .
6. Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we talked about previously, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need to be cleaned. You might notice 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 fast on the coils from condensation and impede heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump shortly switches to ac to get rid of the frost.
Having a Central Air LLC HVAC technician clean the coils will help eliminate the smell.
Trust Us with Your Heat Pump Repair Needs
It can be confusing 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 that you can depend on, call us at .