If you’re noticing a smell from your heat pump, it’s attempting to tell you that something is up. 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. My Heat Pump Smells Like Mold

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 referred to as dirty sock syndrome. You can avoid this by scheduling routine heat pump maintenance and air duct cleaning.

2. Your Heat Pump Has a Fishy Smell

If your heat pump smells like fish, there could be a couple of things wrong:

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

Electrical problems are dangerous, so shut your heat pump system off immediately at the breaker box and get a hold of us at 631-460-5159 for heat pump repair.

3. My Heat Pump Smells Like Sulfur

Usually when you are dealing with a rotten egg smell, you’ve got a gas leak. But your heat pump doesn’t utilize natural gas. If your heat pump smells like sulfur, a tiny animal may have creeped inside it for warmth and died. One of our Fal-Ken Heating & Cooling Corporation techs can remove the smell by cleaning your heat pump.

4. Your Heat Pump Smells Like Sewage

As we reviewed above, your heat pump is electric, so any rotten egg smells are linked to a gas leak in another place. If your heat pump smells like sewer, you might have a backed-up or broken sewer line. We recommend getting in touch with a company that does sewer line repair.

5. My 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 caused by 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 get a hold of us at 631-460-5159.

6. Heat Pump Defrost Cycle Smells

Like we mentioned above, a dirty socks smell can happen when your evaporator coils need sanitizing. You might encounter 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 rapidly on the coils from condensation and restrict heating. During defrost mode, your heat pump shortly switches to air conditioning to remove the frost.

Having a Fal-Ken Heating & Cooling Corporation HVAC technician clean the coils will help eliminate the odor.

You can Count on Us for Your Heat Pump Repair Needs

It can be confusing to troubleshoot your heat pump by all by yourself. Your comfort matters to us at Fal-Ken Heating & Cooling Corporation, so you can count on our professionals to help you when you need us. When you need heat pump repair in Holbrook that you can count on, call us at 631-460-5159.