If you’re discovering a odor from your heat pump, it’s attempting to tell you that something is up. We’ve put together a list of the most commonly encountered 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 most 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 deter 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 few things wrong:
- Overheated motor
- Wiring problems
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical difficulties
Electrical problems are serious, so shut your heat pump system off as soon as possible at the breaker box and call us at for heat pump repair.
3. Heat Pump Smells Like Sulfur
Normally when you have a rotten egg smell, you have 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 creeped inside it for warmth and died. One of our Tru Air Systems LLC experts can eliminate the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. Heat Pump Smells Like Sewer
As we discussed 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 currently have a backed-up or broken sewer line. We advise 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 caused by melting plastic on electrical wires. Electrical problems in HVAC systems are serious and could result in a fire. If you notice this smell, turn off your heat pump at the breaker and contact us at .
6. Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we mentioned above, 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 ordinary for your heat pump to have to switch on defrost mode during heating season. When the air is much cooler, frost can form fast on the coils from condensation and restrict heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump shortly switches to air conditioning to clear away the frost.
Having a Tru Air Systems LLC HVAC technician clean the coils will help get rid of 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 Tru Air Systems 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 count on, call us at .