If you smell mold or mildew after turning on your heater, treat it like burning dust — first, wait for it to burn off on its own. If it doesn't burn off, then try changing out your air filters. If the musty smell is still around, call a local professional.
To eliminate bad odors from an electric heater, you can try cleaning the heater's filter and vents, using odor-absorbing materials like baking soda or activated charcoal near the heater, or placing a bowl of vinegar near the heater to absorb odors.
Fortunately, accumulated dust shouldn't be cause for concern as the smell should not last for long. Let your unit run for an hour or two and the smell should subside or disappear. Your heating system could be overworking due to dirty or clogged air filters.
Baking soda is known for its odor-absorbing properties. Vinegar Solution: Create a solution of vinegar and water and spray it into the HVAC vents. Vinegar can help neutralize odor. Essential Oils: Place a few drops of essential oils on the air filters or a cotton ball and put it near the ventilation system.
If you notice a rotten egg or sulfur smell after turning on your furnace, this is a very serious concern. You may have a natural gas leak in your home. Why does it smell like that? Natural gas is odorless, so a harmless chemical (mercaptan) is added to give natural gas an odor, so you can easily detect a gas leak.
Wherever you're smelling the rotten egg scent the strongest is the place to start. Simply run the water in the sink or the tub for ten minutes to let that p trap get some water in it. That'll block the sewer gas from getting inside again. If the problem persists, call your plumber.
Your heating system has been sitting unused for the last few months, so dust, dirt, and debris have inevitably settled on the heat exchanger, burners, and other components of your heating system. When you first turn on your heat, those particles will burn away, giving off that dusty or burning smell.
Furnace Filter Air Freshener Hack, Explained
When your furnace or air conditioning system is not running, remove the filter and place several drops of essential oil on its pleats. Take care to reinstall the filter properly so the airflow is going in the proper direction, as per the little arrows on the filter.
Chemical/Burning Plastic Furnace Smells
If you smell a strange, acrid, burning plastic smell from your furnace, you may have an electrical issue: electrical components, particularly the blower fan, cycle on and off frequently. Over time, these components can wear out and become inefficient or perform poorly.
But just in case you don't, know that a dirty air filter can produce some very unpleasant smells in your home! If your air filter is new and clean, another DIY solution is to put a bit of baking soda in your air ducts.
A burning dust smell may emanate from the furnace once you start the furnace at the beginning of the winter season. This smell is completely normal and should go away within several days. However, if the musty smell persists, try solving this problem by changing out the air filter.
What is formaldehyde? Formaldehyde is a colorless chemical with a strong pickle-like odor that is commonly used in many manufacturing processes. It easily becomes a gas at room temperature, which makes it part of a larger group of chemicals known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
“Dirty Sock Syndrome” refers to when a foul-smelling, mold- or mildew-like odor comes from your air conditioner when you first turn it on. This happens when moisture, dust, and dirt build up on your AC system's evaporator coil, inviting bacteria and mold to multiply.
Fungus and bacteria buildup creates a dirty sock smell. You might start to smell it when turning on your new AC. This scent can make you physically ill, so immediately reach out to your HVAC technician.
If you smell mold or mildew after turning on your heater, treat it like burning dust — first, wait for it to burn off on its own. If it doesn't burn off, then try changing out your air filters. If the musty smell is still around, call a local professional.
If your house smells like rotten eggs, this is probably septic gas, unless you have a carton of eggs hiding in your living room. Septic gas has a strong, naturally occurring odor that smells like rotten eggs. The smell is hydrogen sulfide, which comes from sewage and indicates a potential issue with your plumbing.
When your furnace turns on for the very first time each season, you may smell a characteristic burning as dust within your system burns off. This smell may be unpleasant, but it shouldn't last longer than an hour or significantly impact indoor air quality.
Place 15-20 drops (maximum of 20 drops) of essential oil fragrance directly onto your furnace filter. Disperse drops throughout entire filter. Don't confine drops of fragrance to one single area.
To actually deodorize your home, you can sprinkle baking soda on floors and furniture and vacuum it up. Baking soda neutralizes odors instead of just masking them. Note: If you have pets, you'll want to make sure they're not in the room until you've vacuumed up the baking soda as it can make animals ill.
Apply 15 to 20 drops of the essential oils to the filter. Make sure you spread the drops out over the entire filter's surface. Install the filter — Finally, install the scented new filter and start your furnace.
Relatively Safe Smells
If your heater is giving off a musty scent or the smell of burning dust, there's probably nothing wrong. These smells tend to come from debris trapped in the filter, moisture inside the unit, or dust buildup inside the unit.
Test Safety Monitors. You should have smoke, radon, and carbon monoxide detectors installed in your home. If you don't already, purchase some. Check the batteries in all of them and then test the detectors to make sure they function properly before you turn on your heater.