Taking proper care of your home's heating system can help it last a long time. Proper heating system maintenance includes having a tech come out to check the system over and make sure everything is running correctly before you start to use it for the winter. Once you have the heater properly maintained, you can prevent many issues from happening. However, you do still want to watch for problems and many of them can present themselves in the form of odd smells, which should occur less often with that maintenance. You can learn how proper maintenance can prevent the following smells.
The smell of rotten garbage
You've smelled rotten garbage before. It's that awful smell that comes from a trash can or garbage bin when there is rotten meat or other rotten food products inside. While this smell is something you may expect to come out of the garbage, it most certainly is not something you would expect to be coming from any part of your home. However, this might happen if you have something dead in the ductwork for your home's heating and cooling system. While the smell may permeate through the home anyway, it will become extremely bad when the heater kicks on and pushes the smell out through the vents. Proper annual maintenance in the form of duct cleaning can often prevent this problem because the tech will clear out debris and catch pest problems early, fixing the entrance point.
A metallic smell
If there is an odor best described as a metallic or even an electric type of smell, then you definitely want to have the heater looked at. There is a good chance that the issue is not an immediate emergency, but for the sake of safety, you should treat it as one until you hear otherwise from the repair person. This smell can be caused by something inside the system being too close to the burner. Preventative maintenance can prevent this because the tech will catch and resolve this issue.
A rotten egg bad smell
A rotten egg smell is added to gas to help alert people to gas leaks. If it weren't for this smell, people wouldn't normally know that they were dealing with a gas emergency, which would have devastating outcomes. This being said, if you start to smell rotten eggs in your home, then you want to turn the system off, leave the area, and call for help immediately. Do not enter your home again until the leaking component has been repaired or replaced and you have been told it is safe to enter. Proper maintenance will reduce your chances of this happening because the tech will look at all the connections.
Conclusion
Aside from calling a repair person out when you smell something odd, there are other things you should do to keep your heater working correctly. The most important thing is to have the system inspected annually so problems are caught early on. Talk to a company like Phil's Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc. to learn more.
Share17 October 2019
Hi there, I am Nadine Bachmier. I am going to discuss the various ways HVAC contractors can keep the temperatures in your business stable. HVAC contractors focus on maintaining and repairing the air conditioner, furnace, and ductwork used in your building. To keep the heating and cooling system in good shape, contractors may need to replace internal components, clean out channels, or simply perform a full upgrade. I will talk about the tools and techniques used to maintain and repair the equipment in your building. I will also share information about new products as they hit the HVAC market. I hope you will follow along and learn all you can.