If you’re recognizing a smell from your heat pump, it’s trying to tell you that something is up. We’ve created a list of the top 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. The Heat Pump Has a Musty Smell
If your heat pump smells musty, there’s most likely mold growing on moist evaporator coils or in the ductwork. This heat pump odor is often known as dirty sock syndrome. You can prevent this by scheduling regular heat pump maintenance and air duct cleaning.
2. My Heat Pump Smells Like Fish
If your heat pump smells like fish, there could be several things wrong:
- Overheated motor
- Wiring issue
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical problem
Electrical problems are dangerous, so shut your heat pump system off immediately at the breaker box and call us at 760-314-4766 for heat pump repair.
3. My Heat Pump Smells Like Sulfur
Normally when you smell a rotten egg smell, you’ve got a gas leak. But your heat pump doesn’t utilize natural gas. If your heat pump smells like sulfur, a little animal may have gotten inside it for warmth and died. One of our Marios Air Conditioning technicians 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 connected to a gas leak elsewhere. If your heat pump smells like sewer, you might be dealing with a backed-up or broken sewer line. We advise contacting a company that does sewer line repair.
5. My Heat Pump Smells Burnt
You might have an electrical concern 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 result in a fire. If you notice this smell, turn off your heat pump at the breaker and call us at 760-314-4766.
6. Why Your Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we talked about above, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need to be cleaned. You might encounter this smell when your heat pump has 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 quickly on the coils from condensation and impede heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump shortly switches to cooling to remove the frost.
Having a Marios Air Conditioning 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 alone. Your comfort matters to us at Marios Air Conditioning, so you can count on our experts to support you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in Thousand Palms that you can rely on, call us at 760-314-4766.