If you’re recognizing a odor from your heat pump, it’s trying to tell you that something is up. We’ve created a list of the most common 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. My Heat Pump Smells Musty
If your heat pump smells musty, there’s probably mold growing on wet evaporator coils or in the ductwork. This heat pump odor is often known as dirty sock syndrome. You can avoid this by scheduling frequent heat pump maintenance and air duct cleaning.
2. Your Heat Pump Has a Fishy Smell
If your heat pump smells like fish, there could be several things wrong:
- Motor is too hot
- Wiring issue
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical issue
Electrical problems are dangerous, so shut your heat pump system off as soon as possible at the breaker box and get a hold of us at 219-872-2198 for heat pump repair.
3. Your Heat Pump Has a Rotten Egg Smell
Often when you smell 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 tiny animal may have creeped inside it for warmth and died. One of our Hoekstra - Paniccia Heating & Air Conditioning experts can eliminate the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. The Heat Pump Smells Like a Sewer
As we mentioned 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 be dealing with a backed-up or broken sewer line. We advise getting in touch with a company that does sewer line repair.
5. Your Heat Pump Smells Burnt
You might be dealing with an electrical problem 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 dangerous and could result in a fire. If you notice this smell, shut off your heat pump at the breaker and call us at 219-872-2198.
6. Why Your Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we mentioned above, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need sanitizing. 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 colder, frost can form rapidly on the coils from condensation and impede heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump shortly switches to air conditioning to get rid of the frost.
Having a Hoekstra - Paniccia Heating & Air Conditioning HVAC technician clean the coils will help get rid of the smell.
Trust Us with Your Heat Pump Repair Needs
It can be confusing to troubleshoot your heat pump by alone. Your comfort matters to us at Hoekstra - Paniccia Heating & Air Conditioning, so you can count on our specialists to help you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in Michigan City that you can depend on, call us at 219-872-2198.