Some Common Furnace Smells in Moseley, VA Explained
It’s common for your heating system to emit various odors while running; some are entirely normal and will disappear over time as the system operates while others might indicate a problem. If you learn that the source of your Moseley, VA home’s bad stench is something more severe, call a heating specialist right away. Here are three common furnace smells you should know about.
Burning Smell
If your furnace smells like it’s on fire, it’s probably because you turned it on for the very first time. Like everything else in your home, your furnace gathers dust over time. When you put on the heat after your furnace remained off for much of the year, accumulated dust burns up, giving your furnace a burning dust smell.
Burning Plastic or Rubber
Your furnace may have an electrical issue if it smells like burnt rubber or plastic. Melting plastic cable casing can produce this burning odor, which is dangerous. Turn off your system immediately and contact a heating professional if you smell melting plastic.
An electrical burning odor may also indicate a damaged heat exchanger or an overheated furnace motor. The heat exchanger securely removes carbon monoxide that is naturally formed during combustion.
Carbon monoxide may flow into your house if the heat exchanger fractures. In high amounts, this colorless gas is lethal. Therefore, it’s crucial to have regular furnace maintenance performed by a Moseley, VA HVAC expert and to install functional carbon monoxide detectors.
Rotten Eggs
It is normal for your furnace to emit a tiny quantity of gas when you turn it on; therefore, you may detect a gas odor from it. However, smelling rotten eggs around your home regularly is unusual.
Utility companies add mercaptan to natural gas to make things like gas leaks easier to detect. This mercaptan can smell like rotten eggs, so if you do smell this odor from your furnace, it might have a gas leak.
Turn off your furnace if it consistently smells like rotten eggs. Locate the main gas supply valve and turn it off as well. Then, contact an HVAC professional immediately for assistance.
Whatever smells your furnace emits, you can trust an HVAC specialist to detect them. Contact Foster Plumbing & Heating INC for all your heating and air conditioning needs. We also provide reliable HVAC maintenance, heat pumps, commercial HVAC, generator services, and indoor air quality services.
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