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 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. My Heat Pump Smells Like Mold
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 known as dirty sock syndrome. You can avoid this by scheduling frequent heat pump maintenance and air duct cleaning.
2. The Heat Pump Has a Fishy Smell
If your heat pump smells like fish, there could be a few things wrong:
- Motor is too hot
- Wiring issue
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical problem
Electrical problems are unsafe, so turn your heat pump system off as soon as possible at the breaker box and call us at 515-450-8739 for heat pump repair.
3. The Heat Pump Has a Rotten Egg Smell
Usually when you have a rotten egg smell, you have a gas leak. But your heat pump doesn’t utilize natural gas. If your heat pump smells like sulfur, a small animal may have crawled inside it for warmth and died. One of our Haselhoff Air Solutions experts can eliminate the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. The Heat Pump Smells Like a Sewer
As we discussed above, your heat pump is electric, so any rotten egg smells are tied to a gas leak in another place. 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 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 dangerous and could result in a fire. If you notice this smell, shut off your heat pump at the breaker and call us at 515-450-8739.
6. Why Your Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we discussed previously, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need cleaning. You might notice this smell when your heat pump has defrost mode.
It’s common for your heat pump to have to turn on defrost mode during heating season. When the air is much colder, frost can form quickly on the coils from condensation and restrict heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump shortly switches to cooling to clear away the frost.
Having a Haselhoff Air Solutions HVAC technician clean the coils will help get rid of the odor.
Depend on for Your Heat Pump Repair Needs
It can be hard to troubleshoot your heat pump by alone. Your comfort matters to us at Haselhoff Air Solutions, so you can count on our specialists to help you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in Ames that you can rely on, call us at 515-450-8739.