There are a few different categories of potential signs that something could be amiss with your furnace or related HVAC components, and one good example here is that of odors. Certain smells you pick up could be a sign of something to do with your furnace - in some cases these are very minor issues, while in others they can be more significant and require professional attention.
At Airtime Heating & Cooling, we're happy to offer AC and furnace repair, replacement and related HVAC services to clients around Lehi, Herriman, Bluffdale, Riverton, Draper and nearby areas, including help with any strange odors you've picked up from your furnace. In this two-part blog series, we'll go over some of the more common smells that may come from this area - what they mean, whether they may signal a serious problem, and what can be done about them either on your own or with the help of our HVAC technicians wherever needed.
While a different sort of burning smell we'll get to in a bit can be more worrisome, a lighter, more papery burning smell is often a simpler and less severe issue. This smell, picked up most commonly in the fall as you're just turning your furnace back on for the first time in a while, most commonly comes from dust that's settled on the furnace heating elements during a period of disuse.
Simply turning your furnace back on again and letting it burn off this dust should eliminate the smell, which will usually dissipate after a few minutes. If this smell does not go away or worsens, however, it could be related to a bigger issue and may require contacting our team.
On the flip side, a burning plastic smell coming from your furnace area is much more serious. This could be a sign of a mechanical issue that's causing friction between two parts within the furnace, potentially leading to damage and even fire hazards if not addressed quickly enough.
In most cases, this will occur due to issues with the blower motor or its related belt - these are areas our technicians can look at and diagnose to see if repairs or replacements are needed before further safety risks come into play.
If you're picking up a sewer-like smell from your furnace, there could be a couple culprits here. The more worrisome one would be a gas leak, which would require you to evacuate the home and contact both emergency services and our HVAC technicians immediately.
In most other cases, this smell is due to a sewage leak within your plumbing system that has nothing to do with the furnace itself. For more on how to handle these kinds of situations or any of the others we've gone over here, speak to our team today.
In part two of our series, we'll go over some other common furnace smells and what they may mean for your system. For more on this or any of our furnace repair services, contact the pros at Airtime Heating & Cooling today.
