A heat pump should heat or cool your home, not make it unbearably smelly. Odors emanating from your system should alert you that something needs resolving. Let’s discuss four odors that your heat pump in Davidsonville, MD, may emit and what’s causing them.
Dirty Gym Socks
Dirty gym socks often smell musty or stale. If your heat pump produces this particular smell, bacteria and microbial buildup are the most common causes.
This buildup occurs most often at the evaporator coil. The best way to solve this is to clean the coil through routine heat pump maintenance.
Rotten Fish
Rotten fish odors isn’t something you’d expect to come from your heat pump unless someone was pranking you. However, this distinctive odor is a sign that you have the beginning of a problem that needs quick resolution. If you detect this odor, switch the power to the heat pump off because it’s likely dealing with one of these problems:
- Overheating or melting plastic components or rubber coatings.
- Mechanical issues like a seized circulating fan motor.
- Faulty wiring, such as a loose connection or arcing.
Rotten Eggs
Most people associate the sulfur smell of rotten eggs with natural gas. In your heat pump, it may indicate a small animal has died somewhere in the system. The best way to identify this is through routine heat pump maintenance and repairs.
Burning Plastic or Rubber
Pay close attention to anything that smells like it could be burning and take prompt action to prevent further damage. Many electrical problems within a heat pump start with overheating wires that burn the surrounding rubber tube plastic components. If you smell anything burning, turn the power off to the heat pump and schedule a repair right away.
Odors emanating from your heat pump indicate something is wrong. Schedule a heat pump repair or maintenance visit with our highly rated service technicians at Coastal Heating & Air Conditioning Co., Inc.
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