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. My Heat Pump Has a Musty Smell
If your heat pump smells musty, there’s probably mold growing on damp evaporator coils or in the ductwork. This heat pump odor is often called dirty sock syndrome. You can prevent this by scheduling frequent 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:
- Overheated motor
- Wiring issue
- Plastic components or coating is melting
- Other mechanical difficulties
Electrical problems are dangerous, so turn your heat pump system off as soon as possible at the breaker box and contact us at 800-296-5088 for heat pump repair.
3. Your Heat Pump Smells Like Sulfur
Normally when you are dealing with 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 small animal may have creeped inside it for warmth and died. One of our AZ Air Conditioning and Heating techs can remove the smell by cleaning your heat pump.
4. My Heat Pump Has a Sewage Smell
As we discussed above, your heat pump is electric, so any rotten egg smells are linked 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. My Heat Pump Smells Like Burning
You might be dealing with an electrical issue if your heat pump smells like burning, burning plastic or burning rubber. This burning smell can be due to melting plastic on electrical wires. Electrical problems in HVAC systems are serious and could lead to a fire. If you notice this smell, turn off your heat pump at the breaker and get a hold of us at 800-296-5088.
6. 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 notice this smell when your heat pump goes into defrost mode.
It’s common for your heat pump to have to turn on defrost mode during heating season. When the air is much cooler, frost can form quickly on the coils from condensation and interfere with heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump briefly switches to cooling to clear away the frost.
Having a AZ Air Conditioning and Heating HVAC technician clean the coils will help get rid of the smell.
Depend on for Your Heat Pump Repair Needs
It can be difficult to troubleshoot your heat pump by yourself. Your comfort matters to us at AZ Air Conditioning and Heating, so you can count on our professionals to support you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in Los Angeles that you can depend on, call us at 800-296-5088.