Why Is My Furnace Making My Home Smell So Bad in Alton, IL?

When it runs into trouble, your furnace can make your home in Alton, IL, smell terrible. By understanding the causes of various unpleasant furnace odors, you can restore your system to working order and make your home a more hospitable place.

Rotten Eggs

Natural gas is odorless, but HVAC companies typically add a chemical to the gas to make it smell like sulfur or rotten eggs. When this gas leaks out, the danger arises that it’ll ignite and trigger fires or explosions in your home. The purpose of the added smell is to alert you to this danger.

If it’s safe to close your furnace’s shutoff valve and cut off the supply of further gas, do so and evacuate your home. Then, call us to repair the furnace.

Burning

Your furnace may emit burning odors for a variety of reasons, most of which stem from airflow obstructions. For example, soot and other debris may keep warm air from getting into your home, which can cause your furnace to work harder than necessary and overheat its blower motor, creating a burning smell. Debris may also clog your furnace’s valves, extinguish its pilot light or prevent its heat exchanger from working correctly.

These facts make it critically important to schedule regular maintenance for your furnace. You should do so at least once per year.

Dust

If your system’s filter come to has too much dust, it might choke off further airflow and cause your furnace to overheat. Consequently, you may notice a dusty smell that graduates to the smell of burning dust.

To avoid this, it’s crucial to clean or replace your furnace’s filter. You should do this at least once every three months.

Let your nose guide you toward the solution to your furnace-related troubles. If something smells funny, call Den-Son Inc. Cooling & Heating to sign up for the best heating repair services around Alton, IL.

Image provided by iStock