If you’re recognizing a smell from your heat pump, it’s attempting to tell you that something is wrong. We’ve developed 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. Your Heat Pump Has a Musty Smell
If your heat pump smells musty, there’s likely mold growing on wet evaporator coils or in the ductwork. This heat pump odor is often known as dirty sock syndrome. You can prevent this by scheduling routine heat pump maintenance and air duct cleaning.
2. The Heat Pump Smells Fishy/Rotten
If your heat pump smells like fish, there could be a few things wrong:
- Motor is too hot
- Wiring issue
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical difficulties
Electrical problems are dangerous, so turn your heat pump system off immediately at the breaker box and get a hold of us at 703-595-4157 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 run on natural gas. If your heat pump smells like sulfur, a tiny animal may have gotten inside it for warmth and died. One of our Fire & Ice HVAC techs can eliminate the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. The Heat Pump Smells Like Sewage
As we discussed 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 recommend contacting a company that does sewer line repair.
5. Your 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 the result of melting plastic on electrical wires. Electrical troubles in HVAC systems are serious and could cause a fire. If you notice this smell, turn off your heat pump at the breaker and contact us at 703-595-4157.
6. Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we discussed previously, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need to be cleaned. You might encounter this smell when your heat pump goes into defrost mode.
It’s typical for your heat pump to have to switch on defrost mode during heating season. When the air is much cooler, frost can form fast on the coils from condensation and impede heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump shortly switches to air conditioning to remove the frost.
Having a Fire & Ice HVAC HVAC technician clean the coils will help get rid of the smell.
Trust Us with Your Heat Pump Repair Needs
It can be hard to troubleshoot your heat pump by alone. Your comfort matters to us at Fire & Ice HVAC, so you can count on our specialists to help you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in Manassas that you can count on, call us at 703-595-4157.