Most of the time, you won’t notice any smell around your furnace or coming from your heating registers. When odd heating system odors develop, they typically have a specific cause, and some are worrisome while others aren’t concerning. Here’s some helpful information on what specific heating system smells mean and how to resolve them:
Rotten Eggs
If it smells like rotten eggs around your furnace, it’s a warning of a natural gas leak. The gas itself has no odor so the chemical mercaptan – which is sulfur-based – is added to the gas so that dangerous leaks are detectable. If you’re getting this sulfur-like odor, call your gas company and your HVAC contractor immediately, then open up a few windows and go outside until the leak is found and fixed.
Dirty Socks
If you notice a foul “dirty sock” smell coming from the registers, bacteria growth somewhere in the heating system is the likely culprit. Putting in a fresh air filter might help, but if the odor persists, call in a pro to thoroughly clean the evaporator, blower and ductwork to eliminate the bacteria that’s causing the smell.
Ozone or Burnt-Wiring
The smell of overheated wiring produces a distinctive ozone-like odor that can spread through the house when the blower cycles on. A malfunctioning blower motor that’s overheating can burn the insulation from the wiring and produce such an odor. Since short circuits and sparks can also occur when the motor overheats, the smell is a warning to shut down the furnace via the breaker and contact your heating contractor before there’s a fire.
Hot Dust
It’s not uncommon to get a smell of hot dust from the registers when you start up the furnace for the first time in the fall. Although this harmless odor goes away on its own, it’s a sign that dust has built up inside the system, so use it as a reminder to change the air filter and schedule a maintenance appointment
For help diagnosing the cause of heating system odors in your Lorain home, contact us today at Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Lorain, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about heating systems and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 440-201-2959.
Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning
1 (440) 246-5440
Serving the Lorain, OH Area