If you’re recognizing a smell from your heat pump, it’s attempting to tell you that something is wrong. 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. The Heat Pump Smells Musty
If your heat pump smells musty, there’s likely mold growing on damp evaporator coils or in the ductwork. This heat pump odor is often referred to as dirty sock syndrome. You can avoid this by scheduling regular heat pump maintenance and air duct cleaning.
2. My Heat Pump Smells Like Fish
If your heat pump smells like fish, there could be a couple of 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 201-579-2562 for heat pump repair.
3. My Heat Pump Smells Like Sulfur
Normally when you are dealing with 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 small animal may have gotten inside it for warmth and died. One of our ACE Solutions techs can eliminate the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. The Heat Pump Has a Sewage Smell
As we discussed earlier, 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 advise getting in touch with a company that does sewer line repair.
5. My 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 due to melting plastic on electrical wires. Electrical troubles in HVAC systems are unsafe and could result in a fire. If you notice this smell, shut off your heat pump at the breaker and call us at 201-579-2562.
6. Why Your 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 experience this smell when your heat pump goes into defrost mode.
It’s typical for your heat pump to have to use defrost mode during heating season. When the air is much cooler, frost can form quickly 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 ACE Solutions HVAC technician clean the coils will help eliminate 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 ACE Solutions, so you can count on our specialists to assist you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in Hasbrouck Heights that you can depend on, call us at 201-579-2562.