If you’re noticing a odor 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. Your Heat Pump Has a Musty Smell
If your heat pump smells musty, there’s likely mold growing on moist evaporator coils or in the ductwork. This heat pump odor is often known as 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 couple of things wrong:
- Overheated motor
- Wiring problem
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical issue
Electrical problems are dangerous, so shut your heat pump system off as soon as possible at the breaker box and call us at 570-648-0748 for heat pump repair.
3. My Heat Pump Smells Like Rotten Eggs
Usually when you smell a rotten egg smell, you have 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 LTS Plumbing & Heating Inc. experts can eliminate 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 linked to a gas leak somewhere else. If your heat pump smells like sewer, you might be dealing with a backed-up or broken sewer line. We recommend getting in touch with a company that does sewer line repair.
5. My Heat Pump Smells Burnt
You might be dealing with 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 troubles in HVAC systems are dangerous and could cause a fire. If you notice this smell, turn off your heat pump at the breaker and get a hold of us at 570-648-0748.
6. Why Your Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we talked about previously, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need cleaning. You might encounter this smell when your heat pump is in 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 impede heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump temporarily switches to ac to remove the frost.
Having a LTS Plumbing & Heating 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 all by yourself. Your comfort matters to us at LTS Plumbing & Heating Inc., so you can count on our specialists to support you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in Shamokin and Sunbury that you can depend on, call us at 570-648-0748.