If you’re recognizing a odor 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 Like Mold
If your heat pump smells musty, there’s most likely mold growing on damp evaporator coils or in the ductwork. This heat pump odor is often called dirty sock syndrome. You can deter this by scheduling regular heat pump maintenance and air duct cleaning.
2. My Heat Pump Smells Fishy/Rotten
If your heat pump smells like fish, there could be a few things wrong:
- Overheated motor
- Wiring issue
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical difficulties
Electrical problems are serious, so turn your heat pump system off as soon as possible at the breaker box and call us at 267-277-3851 for heat pump repair.
3. My 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 use natural gas. If your heat pump smells like sulfur, a small animal may have creeped inside it for warmth and died. One of our Retro HVAC Service & Installation experts can eliminate the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. The Heat Pump Smells Like Sewage
As we reviewed above, your heat pump is electric, so any rotten egg smells are tied to a gas leak in another place. If your heat pump smells like sewer, you might be dealing with a backed-up or broken sewer line. We suggest getting in touch with a company that does sewer line repair.
5. The Heat Pump Smells Burnt
You might have an electrical issue 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 problems in HVAC systems are dangerous and could cause a fire. If you notice this smell, shut off your heat pump at the breaker and get a hold of us at 267-277-3851.
6. Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we talked about earlier, 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 common 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 impede heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump shortly switches to ac to remove the frost.
Having a Retro HVAC Service & Installation HVAC technician clean the coils will help get rid of the odor.
You can Count on Us for Your Heat Pump Repair Needs
It can be confusing to troubleshoot your heat pump by all by yourself. Your comfort matters to us at Retro HVAC Service & Installation, so you can count on our specialists to help you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in Philadelphia that you can rely on, call us at 267-277-3851.