If you’re recognizing a odor from your heat pump, it’s trying 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 correct 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 probably mold growing on wet evaporator coils or in the ductwork. This heat pump odor is often called dirty sock syndrome. You can prevent this by scheduling frequent heat pump maintenance and air duct cleaning.
2. Your Heat Pump Smells Fishy/Rotten
If your heat pump smells like fish, there could be several things wrong:
- Motor is too hot
- Wiring issue
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical issue
Electrical problems are unsafe, so shut your heat pump system off right away at the breaker box and call us at 928-862-5977 for heat pump repair.
3. Your Heat Pump Smells Like Rotten Eggs
Usually when you smell a rotten egg smell, you’re dealing with a gas leak. But your heat pump doesn’t utilize natural gas. If your heat pump smells like sulfur, a small animal may have creeped inside it for warmth and died. One of our Connolly Electric & Mechanical experts can get rid of 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 linked to a gas leak elsewhere. If your heat pump smells like sewer, you might have a backed-up or broken sewer line. We suggest getting in touch with a company that does sewer line repair.
5. Your 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 caused by melting plastic on electrical wires. Electrical problems in HVAC systems are serious and could lead to a fire. If you notice this smell, turn off your heat pump at the breaker and call us at 928-862-5977.
6. Why Your Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we discussed above, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need sanitizing. You might encounter this smell when your heat pump has defrost mode.
It’s ordinary for your heat pump to have to use 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 air conditioning to remove the frost.
Having a Connolly Electric & Mechanical 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 yourself. Your comfort matters to us at Connolly Electric & Mechanical, so you can count on our specialists to assist you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in Cottonwood & Verde Valley that you can count on, call us at 928-862-5977.
