Welcome back to a beautiful New England autumn. It might just be the prettiest time of year! But don’t forget that winter is just around the corner. You could be needing to run your heating system any day now. Are you ready? All right, let’s imagine it. There’s an extra chill in the air one morning. You set your thermostat to “heat” and turn it up… Oh, no, what’s that smell? Do you need heating repair?
Burning Dust
Chances are, if you’re starting up your heating system for the first time of the season, any odor you notice will simply be hot dust. You can open a window here and there (sorry, it’ll let your heat right back out again) and the smell should be gone within an hour or so. It’s only if the smell persists that you should be concerned.
Hot Metal and Melting Plastic
If the hot smell is worse than simply scorching dust, or it just won’t go away, it’s probably a sign that something is going wrong. Overheating components, such as the motor which powers the blower fan and forces the hot air through your ducts, can create quite an odor and the smell will circulate through your vents along with the heat. Overheating poses a fire hazard, so get repairs promptly.
Fish
An odor of dead fish is something to be extra concerned about. When fish decompose, they release ammonia into the air. Another thing that releases ammonia is an electrical fire! So if you smell fish, take it seriously. Turn the heat off and don’t risk turning it back on until a qualified technician has made the necessary repairs.
Sulfur
If you’ve got a gas-burning furnace, you may remember being told that natural gas has no odor. So how can you tell if you’ve got a gas leak? A special chemical called mercaptan is added to the natural gas, so your nose will be able to detect it in the air. It smells awful, like sulfurous rotten eggs. This smell means you’ve got an emergency on your hands.
If you can easily turn off the heat in a hurry, do so. But then you must evacuate. Collect your family and pets and get a safe distance away from your home. Then call the emergency line of your natural gas provider. If you can’t get a response quickly enough, call 911. Do not go back into the house until you’ve gotten the all-clear from the experts.
Preventing Furnace Problems
Wouldn’t it be nicer to try and avoid these problems in the first place? The best way to achieve that is by scheduling furnace maintenance every single year. All components will be inspected and tested. Any tiny issues will be corrected, so big problems can’t develop. And all the dust will be cleaned away before you need to turn the heat on for the season, so you won’t even have that minor hot dust smell.
To schedule maintenance or any other service for your forced air heating in Woburn, MA, contact us right away.
Reach out to Cooling Unlimited, Inc. to speak with qualified HVAC experts.
