If you’re noticing a smell 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 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 wet evaporator coils or in the ductwork. This heat pump odor is often known as dirty sock syndrome. You can deter this by scheduling regular 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:
- Motor is too hot
- Wiring problem
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical difficulties
Electrical problems are unsafe, so shut 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 utilize natural gas. If your heat pump smells like sulfur, a small animal may have crawled inside it for warmth and died. One of our Smyth Air Conditioning [techs can eliminate the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. Heat Pump Smells Like Sewer
As we discussed earlier, your heat pump is electric, so any rotten egg smells are linked to a gas leak somewhere else. If your heat pump smells like sewer, you might be dealing with a backed-up or broken sewer line. We suggest calling a company that does sewer line repair.
5. Heat Pump Smells Like Burning
You might have an electrical issue 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, shut off your heat pump at the breaker and call us at .
6. Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we discussed above, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need sanitizing. You might experience this smell when your heat pump is in defrost mode.
It’s ordinary for your heat pump to have to use defrost mode during heating season. When the air is much colder, frost can form rapidly on the coils from condensation and interfere with heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump shortly switches to cooling to remove the frost.
Having a Smyth Air Conditioning HVAC technician clean the coils will help eliminate the smell.
Depend on for Your Heat Pump Repair Needs
It can be difficult to troubleshoot your heat pump by all by yourself. Your comfort matters to us at Smyth Air Conditioning, so you can count on our experts to help you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in that you can rely on, call us at .