If you’re recognizing a smell from your heat pump, it’s trying to tell you that something is wrong. We’ve created a list of the most commonly encountered 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. My Heat Pump Has a Musty Smell
If your heat pump smells musty, there’s probably mold growing on wet evaporator coils or in the ductwork. This heat pump odor is often known as dirty sock syndrome. You can prevent this by scheduling routine heat pump maintenance and air duct cleaning.
2. Your Heat Pump Smells Like Fish
If your heat pump smells like fish, there could be several things wrong:
- Motor is too hot
- Wiring problems
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical problem
Electrical problems are dangerous, so turn your heat pump system off as soon as possible at the breaker box and call us at 843-253-4874 for heat pump repair.
3. My Heat Pump Smells Like Rotten Eggs
Usually when you have a rotten egg smell, you’re dealing with 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 creeped inside it for warmth and died. One of our Polar Air & Mechanical experts can remove the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. My Heat Pump Smells Like Sewage
As we reviewed before, your heat pump is electric, so any rotten egg smells are tied to a gas leak elsewhere. If your heat pump smells like sewer, you might currently have a backed-up or broken sewer line. We advise calling a company that does sewer line repair.
5. Your Heat Pump Has a Burnt Plastic/Rubber Smell
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 the result of melting plastic on electrical wires. Electrical issues in HVAC systems are unsafe 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 843-253-4874.
6. Why Your Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells
Like we discussed earlier, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need cleaning. 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 colder, frost can form fast on the coils from condensation and interfere with heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump briefly switches to air conditioning to remove the frost.
Having a Polar Air & Mechanical 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 Polar Air & Mechanical, so you can count on our experts to help you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in Myrtle Beach that you can count on, call us at 843-253-4874.
