If Your Furnace Has an Odor, You Could Have a Problem

There you are, sitting in your favorite chair, perhaps flipping through a book or enjoying a little TV with your family when it hits- a subtle, unpleasant odor. You try to ignore it, and turn your attention back to your activity, when it strikes again, stronger this time. Confused and bewildered, you search out the stench for several long moments before realizing that your furnace has an odor. 

Help! My Furnace Has an Odor! 

Of all our five senses, smell is one of the most under-appreciated, but when it comes to keeping both your home and family safe, you can’t afford to overlook unfamiliar smells coming from your furnace. Tracking down suspicious scents and dealing with them quickly can mean the difference between a minor furnace repair and a brand new system.

Electrical or Burning Odor

The most obvious (and concerning) of all household odors is the electrical or burning smell. It’s most often caused by a foreign object in your ductwork and is a fairly common problem among households with small children. Frequently, all you have to do is search out the object or spill and remove it from the area. If you don’t see any visible reason for the burning odor, contact a technician right away, as the problem may be something much more serious.

Musty Odor

If your furnace odor is reminiscent of a dank basement, you may have mold trapped inside one of your filters. This can be remedied by changing your air filter monthly and cleaning your humidifier filter, if you have one, according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Smoky Odor

If you smell smoke coming from your furnace, then you most likely are dealing with a blocked chimney. If smoke is unable to escape out of your chimney, it’s eventually going to fill up your house. If your home is smoky, contact a certified heating, ventilation and air conditioning, or HVAC technician immediately to clear the obstruction.

For further help keeping your Greater Cleveland-area home warm this winter, contact us today at Stack Heating & Cooling. Since 1976, we’ve been setting the standard for home comfort.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Cleveland, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about furnace odors and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Credit/Copyright Attribution: “Piotr-Marcinski/Shutterstock”