If you’re recognizing a odor from your heat pump, it’s trying to tell you that something is wrong. We’ve put together a list of the top six heat pump smells, what causes them and how you can repair 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 Smells Musty
If your heat pump smells musty, there’s likely mold growing on damp evaporator coils or in the ductwork. This heat pump odor is often referred to as dirty sock syndrome. You can prevent this by scheduling routine heat pump maintenance and air duct cleaning.
2. My Heat Pump Has a Fishy Smell
If your heat pump smells like fish, there could be a couple of things wrong:
- Motor is too hot
- Wiring issue
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical difficulties
Electrical problems are unsafe, so turn your heat pump system off right away at the breaker box and contact us at 608-447-0555 for heat pump repair.
3. My Heat Pump Smells Like Rotten Eggs
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 crawled inside it for warmth and died. One of our JW Brager Heating and Cooling experts can get rid of the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. Your Heat Pump Has a Sewage Smell
As we discussed before, 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 currently have a backed-up or broken sewer line. We suggest contacting a company that does sewer line repair.
5. The Heat Pump Has a Burnt Plastic/Rubber Smell
You might have an electrical issue 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 issues in HVAC systems are dangerous and could lead to a fire. If you notice this smell, turn off your heat pump at the breaker and contact us at 608-447-0555.
6. Why Your 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 encounter this smell when your heat pump goes into 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 quickly on the coils from condensation and impede heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump briefly switches to air conditioning to clear away the frost.
Having a JW Brager Heating and Cooling HVAC technician clean the coils will help eliminate the odor.
You can Count on Us for Your Heat Pump Repair Needs
It can be hard to troubleshoot your heat pump by alone. Your comfort matters to us at JW Brager Heating and Cooling, so you can count on our specialists to help you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in Mount Horeb that you can rely on, call us at 608-447-0555.