If your furnace smells while heating, it’s trying to tell you something’s wrong. We’ve compiled a list of the top six furnace smells so you can learn what causes them and how to repair them. These include:
- Burning smell from furnace
- Furnace smells like burning plastic
- Gas smell from furnace
- Furnace smells like sewer
- Furnace smells musty
1. The Furnace Smells Like It’s Burning
Cause: Dusty Furnace
If your furnace smells like burning, it’s probably happening when you turn on your furnace for the first time in the fall. Like anything else in your home, your furnace accumulates dust over time. This dust burns up when you turn on the heat, causing the burning dust smell from your furnace.
2. Furnace Smells Like Burning Plastic
Cause: Electrical Problem
If your furnace smells like burning plastic or burning rubber, it might have an electrical issue. This smell of burning can be caused by melting plastic wire casing, which is a safety hazard. If you’re noticing a melted plastic smell, turn off your heating system right away and call us at 204-272-8128 for furnace repair.
Cause: Overheated Motor or Cracked Furnace Exchanger
An electrical burning smell could also mean your furnace motor is overheated or the heat exchanger is cracked. The heat exchanger safely gets rid of carbon monoxide that’s naturally created during the combustion process.
If it cracks, carbon monoxide can seep into your home. This invisible gas is fatal in large doses. So, it’s important to have an HVAC professional do routine furnace maintenance and have functional carbon monoxide detectors.
Other signs of a cracked heat exchanger include:
- Soot on or inside the furnace
- Yellow burner flame, instead of blue
- Chemical smell from furnace, such as formaldehyde
- Water around your furnace, as long as the condensate drain isn’t blocked
- Flu-like symptoms
3. The Furnace Smells Like Gas or Rotten Eggs
It’s normal for your heating system to let off a small amount of gas when it turns on, so you might notice a gas smell from your furnace. But it’s not normal to be smelling natural gas or rotten eggs throughout your home on a daily basis.
Cause: Gas Leak
If your furnace smells like gas continuously, shut it down. If you know where your main gas supply valve is, shut that off too. Then call the gas company and us for assistance.
4. Furnace Smells Like Sewer
If your furnace smells like sewer, or rotten eggs, you’ll want to make sure you don’t have a gas leak. If you don’t, the problem could be with your sewer lines and not your furnace. This is especially true if it’s been extremely dry lately.
Cause: Dry Sewer Trap or Sewer Leak
If you suspect your sewer trap is dry, you can try pouring some water down the floor drain in your basement. If that doesn’t solve the problem, you might have a sewer leak, so you’ll want to contact a company that handles sewer line repair.
5. The Furnace Smells Like Mold
If your furnace smells musty, mold and mildew have likely been growing in it for some time.
Cause: Dirty Ductwork
Your furnace works with air ducts to send warm air across your home. Mold can grow in the ductwork over time, especially if you live in a humid climate. You can get rid of the mold by having an HVAC technician do air duct cleaning.
Trust Us with Your Furnace Repair Needs
Trying to fix your heating and cooling system by yourself is difficult. Your comfort is our number one goal at Kirkfield Heating & Air Conditioning, so our pros are here to help you when you need us. When you need furnace repair in Winnipeg that you can depend on, contact us at 204-272-8128.
