If you’re discovering a smell from your heat pump, it’s attempting to tell you that something is wrong. We’ve created a list of the most commonly encountered six heat pump smells, what causes them and how you can repair 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. Your Heat Pump Smells Musty
If your heat pump smells musty, there’s most likely 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 routine heat pump maintenance and air duct cleaning.
2. Your Heat Pump Smells Fishy/Rotten
If your heat pump smells like fish, there could be a few things wrong:
- Motor is too hot
- Wiring problems
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical problem
Electrical problems are serious, so shut your heat pump system off immediately at the breaker box and contact us at 715-578-8046 for heat pump repair.
3. The Heat Pump Has a Rotten Egg Smell
Often when you are dealing with 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 tiny animal may have creeped inside it for warmth and died. One of our Halverson Brothers Inc technicians can remove the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. My Heat Pump Smells Like Sewage
As we discussed before, 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 suggest contacting a company that does sewer line repair.
5. The Heat Pump Smells Like Burning
You might have an electrical concern 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 issues in HVAC systems are unsafe and could lead to a fire. If you notice this smell, turn off your heat pump at the breaker and contact us at 715-578-8046.
6. Why Your Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we discussed earlier, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need cleaning. You might notice this smell when your heat pump has defrost mode.
It’s ordinary for your heat pump to have to turn on defrost mode during heating season. When the air is much cooler, frost can form rapidly on the coils from condensation and restrict heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump shortly switches to ac to remove the frost.
Having a Halverson Brothers Inc HVAC technician clean the coils will help eliminate the smell.
Trust Us with Your Heat Pump Repair Needs
It can be difficult to troubleshoot your heat pump by yourself. Your comfort matters to us at Halverson Brothers Inc, so you can count on our experts to assist you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in Menomonie and western Wisconsin that you can depend on, call us at 715-578-8046.
