If you’re noticing a odor from your heat pump, it’s attempting to tell you that something is wrong. We’ve put together a list of the most popular 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. Your Heat Pump Smells Musty

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 called dirty sock syndrome. You can deter this by scheduling regular heat pump maintenance and air duct cleaning.

2. The Heat Pump Smells Fishy/Rotten

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 serious, so turn your heat pump system off immediately at the breaker box and contact us at 561-287-7071 for heat pump repair.

3. My 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 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 Kilbourne Heating & AC experts can eliminate the smell by cleaning your heat pump.

4. The Heat Pump Smells Like Sewage

As we discussed earlier, your heat pump is electric, so any rotten egg smells are connected to a gas leak somewhere else. If your heat pump smells like sewer, you might currently have a backed-up or broken sewer line. We advise contacting 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 issues 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 contact us at 561-287-7071.

6. Why Your Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells

Like we talked about above, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need to be cleaned. You might notice this smell when your heat pump has defrost mode.

It’s typical for your heat pump to have to use defrost mode during heating season. When the air is much colder, frost can form quickly on the coils from condensation and interfere with heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump temporarily switches to cooling to clear away the frost.

Having a Kilbourne Heating & AC HVAC technician clean the coils will help eliminate the odor.

Depend on for Your Heat Pump Repair Needs

It can be hard to troubleshoot your heat pump by all by yourself. Your comfort matters to us at Kilbourne Heating & AC, so you can count on our professionals to assist you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in Delray Beach that you can depend on, call us at 561-287-7071.