You expect your furnace to keep your home warm on cold Bessemer, AL nights, but you don’t expect it to produce odd, bad odors. These smells can range from light scents you detect in certain rooms to bad odors you smell in every room. Find out what the odors coming from your furnace means and how professionals can stop them.
Burning Odors
A burning odor that comes from your furnace can mimic the scent of an electrical fire or the ozone you detect after a storm. This issue commonly occurs with older systems that have broken parts. You may need furnace repairs that include replacing the blower motor and fixing the damaged insulation nearby.
Rotten Eggs
If you smell rotten eggs or a sulfur odor coming from your furnace, it’s a sign of a bad heat exchanger. This odor comes from the carbon monoxide that leaks out of your furnace. An immediate repair is needed when this smell occurs. You should install a carbon monoxide detector to alert you to these leaks which are dangerous.
Musty Scents
The first time you use your furnace after a few months of milder weather, you’ll notice a musty odor as the unit burns off the dust that has built up on it. This smell should go away within a few hours. It if persists, it’s usually a sign that the filter is dirty and not letting enough clean air through.
Burning Plastic
Always pay attention to burning smells that come from your furnace, especially the scent of burning plastic. This is often a sign of an electrical malfunction that causes the furnace to overheat. You can also detect this odor when a component produces sparks that burn any nearby plastic elements.
Never ignore any strange odors that come from your furnace. Call us at One Source Heating & Cooling to see just how quickly our team can tackle the heating repairs you need.
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