If you’re discovering a smell from your heat pump, it’s attempting 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 correct them.

  1. Heat pump smells musty
  2. Heat pump smells like fish
  3. Heat pump smells like sulfur
  4. Heat pump smells like sewer
  5. Heat pump smells like burning
  6. Heat pump defrost cycle smells

1. The Heat Pump Has a Musty Smell

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 prevent this by scheduling routine 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 couple of things wrong:

  • Overheated motor
  • Wiring problems
  • Plastic components or coating is melting
  • Other mechanical issue

Electrical problems are dangerous, so turn your heat pump system off as soon as possible at the breaker box and get a hold of us at (337) 234-2345 for heat pump repair.

3. The Heat Pump Smells Like Rotten Eggs

Often when you smell a rotten egg smell, you’ve got a gas leak. But your heat pump doesn’t run on natural gas. If your heat pump smells like sulfur, a small animal may have crawled inside it for warmth and died. One of our AC Sales technicians can remove the smell by cleaning your heat pump.

4. The Heat Pump Has a Sewage Smell

As we mentioned above, 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 be dealing with a backed-up or broken sewer line. We advise getting in touch with a company that does sewer line repair.

5. The Heat Pump Smells Burnt

You might be dealing with an electrical concern 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 problems in HVAC systems are unsafe and could cause a fire. If you notice this smell, shut off your heat pump at the breaker and get a hold of us at (337) 234-2345.

6. Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells

Like we talked about earlier, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need to be cleaned. You might experience this smell when your heat pump is in 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 fast on the coils from condensation and impede heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump briefly switches to air conditioning to remove the frost.

Having a AC Sales HVAC technician clean the coils will help eliminate the odor.

Trust Us with Your Heat Pump Repair Needs

It can be difficult to troubleshoot your heat pump by alone. Your comfort matters to us at AC Sales, so you can count on our experts to assist you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in Lafayette that you can count on, call us at (337) 234-2345.