If you’re discovering a odor from your heat pump, it’s attempting 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 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. The Heat Pump Has a Musty Smell
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 known as dirty sock syndrome. You can deter this by scheduling regular 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 few things wrong:
- Overheated motor
- Wiring problems
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical issue
Electrical problems are dangerous, so turn your heat pump system off as soon as possible at the breaker box and get a hold of us at 940-202-1184 for heat pump repair.
3. The Heat Pump Smells Like Rotten Eggs
Normally when you smell 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 little animal may have crawled inside it for warmth and died. One of our Pepper AC & Heat technicians can eliminate the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. Your Heat Pump Smells Like a Sewer
As we discussed above, your heat pump is electric, so any rotten egg smells are linked 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 recommend getting in touch with a company that does sewer line repair.
5. Your Heat Pump Has a Burnt Plastic/Rubber Smell
You might have an electrical issue if your heat pump smells like burning, burning plastic or burning rubber. This burning smell can be due to melting plastic on electrical wires. Electrical troubles in HVAC systems are unsafe and could cause a fire. If you notice this smell, shut off your heat pump at the breaker and contact us at 940-202-1184.
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 notice this smell when your heat pump has defrost mode.
It’s ordinary for your heat pump to have to turn on defrost mode during heating season. When the air is much colder, frost can form fast on the coils from condensation and restrict heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump shortly switches to air conditioning to remove the frost.
Having a Pepper AC & Heat HVAC technician clean the coils will help eliminate the odor.
Depend on for Your Heat Pump Repair Needs
It can be confusing to troubleshoot your heat pump by yourself. Your comfort matters to us at Pepper AC & Heat, so you can count on our professionals to help you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in Justin that you can rely on, call us at 940-202-1184.
