If you’re noticing a odor from your heat pump, it’s attempting to tell you that something is up. We’ve developed 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 probably mold growing on damp evaporator coils or in the ductwork. This heat pump odor is often known as dirty sock syndrome. You can prevent this by scheduling routine heat pump maintenance and air duct cleaning.
2. Heat Pump Smells Like Fish
If your heat pump smells like fish, there could be a couple of things wrong:
- Overheated motor
- Wiring issue
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical problem
Electrical problems are dangerous, so turn your heat pump system off immediately at the breaker box and contact us at for heat pump repair.
3. Heat Pump Smells Like Sulfur
Normally when you have a rotten egg smell, you’ve got a gas leak. But your heat pump doesn’t use natural gas. If your heat pump smells like sulfur, a tiny animal may have gotten inside it for warmth and died. One of our Dearing's Service & Solutions experts can eliminate 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 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 advise calling a company that does sewer line repair.
5. Heat Pump Smells Like Burning
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 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 contact us at .
6. Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we discussed earlier, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need cleaning. You might experience this smell when your heat pump is in defrost mode.
It’s common for your heat pump to have to turn on defrost mode during heating season. When the air is much cooler, frost can form rapidly on the coils from condensation and interfere with heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump briefly switches to ac to get rid of the frost.
Having a Dearing's Service & Solutions HVAC technician clean the coils will help get rid of the odor.
Trust Us with Your Heat Pump Repair Needs
It can be hard to troubleshoot your heat pump by alone. Your comfort matters to us at Dearing's Service & Solutions, so you can count on our specialists to support you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in that you can count on, call us at .