If you’re noticing a smell from your heat pump, it’s trying to tell you that something is up. We’ve put together 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 moist evaporator coils or in the ductwork. This heat pump odor is often referred to as dirty sock syndrome. You can deter this by scheduling frequent heat pump maintenance and air duct cleaning.
2. Heat Pump Smells Like Fish
If your heat pump smells like fish, there could be a couple of things wrong:
- Overheated motor
- Wiring problem
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical issue
Electrical problems are serious, so turn your heat pump system off immediately at the breaker box and get a hold of us at for heat pump repair.
3. Heat Pump Smells Like Sulfur
Normally when you have a rotten egg smell, you have a gas leak. But your heat pump doesn’t use natural gas. If your heat pump smells like sulfur, a little animal may have creeped inside it for warmth and died. One of our Lanz Furnace and Fireplace experts can get rid of the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. Heat Pump Smells Like Sewer
As we reviewed earlier, your heat pump is electric, so any rotten egg smells are connected 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 getting in touch with a company that does sewer line repair.
5. 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 due to melting plastic on electrical wires. Electrical troubles in HVAC systems are serious and could lead to a fire. If you notice this smell, shut off your heat pump at the breaker and get a hold of us at .
6. Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we discussed above, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need to be cleaned. You might notice this smell when your heat pump goes into defrost mode.
It’s ordinary for your heat pump to have to turn on defrost mode during heating season. When the air is much colder, frost can form rapidly on the coils from condensation and restrict heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump briefly switches to air conditioning to get rid of the frost.
Having a Lanz Furnace and Fireplace HVAC technician clean the coils will help get rid of the smell.
Depend on for Your Heat Pump Repair Needs
It can be confusing to troubleshoot your heat pump by yourself. Your comfort matters to us at Lanz Furnace and Fireplace, so you can count on our specialists to help you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in that you can count on, call us at .
