The air conditioner is meant to provide your house with cool, comfortable air, but this isn’t always the case. Sometimes the unit gives off bad smell that is not only irritating, but also hazardous. According to HVAC contractors, the AC can give off different types of smells including:
AC smell no 1: Skunk smell
Can you imagine your house smelling like a skunk? Everyone hates the skunk smell and when you come across the animal you want to run as far away from it as possible. If this is the case with your house, the problem is due to a leak in your gas system. The skunk smell is probably from Methy mercaptan that is added to natural gas in order to make it easy for you to detect a leak. This problem can be hazardous; therefore, you should contact an AC repair professional as soon as possible to fix the issue.
AC smell no 2: Stinky feet smell
If you notice that you have a stinky feet smell whenever you put on the AC and yet your feet don’t smell, you have a problem that you should get fixed. According to AC experts, the stinky feet smell comes about when you don’t drain water that collects in the HVAC system. This is a simple problem that you can easily fix by draining the water. In addition to doing this it’s also recommended that you hire an AC technician to inspect the system and determine whether the unit will continue to properly drain the water.
Air conditioner smell no 3: Burning
You can know something is burning by simply smelling it. The burning smell is a sign of a mechanical problem with your AC and can result to fire if you don’t take immediate action. You should turn off your unit and contact a HVAC technician to fix the problem.
Air conditioner smell no 4: Mildew
The mildew smell is damp and almost smells like fungus. The smell is due to presence of mold or mildew in the system. Mildew develops when the water levels in the system get too high. The easiest way of fixing this problem is cleaning the air conditioner and replacing the air filter. If doing so doesn’t fix the problem you should ask a technician from a reputable HVAC company to take a look at it. The AC might be having problems that trigger it produce plenty of moisture.