If you’re recognizing 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. Heat Pump Smells Musty
If your heat pump smells musty, there’s probably mold growing on moist evaporator coils or in the ductwork. This heat pump odor is often known as dirty sock syndrome. You can prevent 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 a few things wrong:
- Overheated motor
- Wiring problem
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical issue
Electrical problems are serious, so shut your heat pump system off as soon as possible 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 run on natural gas. If your heat pump smells like sulfur, a little animal may have gotten inside it for warmth and died. One of our McFadden Heating & Cooling [techs can remove the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. Heat Pump Smells Like Sewer
As we reviewed before, your heat pump is electric, so any rotten egg smells are tied to a gas leak elsewhere. If your heat pump smells like sewer, you might currently 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 problem if your heat pump smells like burning, burning plastic or burning rubber. This burning smell can be the result of melting plastic on electrical wires. Electrical problems 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 call us at .
6. Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we talked about previously, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need cleaning. You might encounter this smell when your heat pump goes into defrost mode.
It’s common 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 impede heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump temporarily switches to ac to remove the frost.
Having a McFadden Heating & Cooling HVAC technician clean the coils will help eliminate the smell.
Depend on for Your Heat Pump Repair Needs
It can be hard to troubleshoot your heat pump by all by yourself. Your comfort matters to us at McFadden Heating & Cooling, so you can count on our specialists to help you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in that you can depend on, call us at .
