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How can you tell if your heating system needs repair? There are a variety of things you might notice if you’ve got a furnace problem that should be checked out by a professional. Like any other mechanical system, there might be odd noises. Your heat might not be evenly distributed throughout your home, or it may stop altogether. You might notice rising utility bills because many heating problems cause inefficiency.
But one thing you might not have thought much about is odor. It might be that your first clue to a problem with a heating system is a surprising smell! Today, we’ll explain what odors to keep an eye (or a nose) out for, and which ones mean that furnace repairs are definitely necessary.
Hot Dust
If the smell you’re detecting just seems like hot dust, as though an untouched mess has gotten too warm, you might not have a serious problem. Is it the first time you’ve turned the heat on this season? Did you forget to schedule maintenance? It might just be the dust of a whole year heating up when the furnace first comes on.
First, air things out, and with luck, the smell will be gone in an hour or so. Your next step is to schedule that maintenance, to make sure your heating system is ready for another Montana winter’s hard work keeping you and your family from freezing.
Overheating Components
What if the hot smell doesn’t go away when you try to air out your home? What if you think it might smell like something other than just dust has gotten too hot? You could have overheating components in there, and this is a situation that calls for professional repair.
It might be that the blower fan isn’t working properly, so heat is building up inside rather than being distributed. It might be that the motor is too hot and at risk of burning out. (Did you know the wires can literally fuse together?) It could just be that a lack of airflow or insulating blankets of dust are allowing heat to build up inside a furnace, a common issue when furnaces don’t receive maintenance.
Electrical Fire
Here’s a strange but true fact for you: both decomposing fish and electrical fires emit ammonia into the air around them. That means they have a similar odor! If you smell something fishy, and you haven’t been cooking fish, your heating problem requires urgent repair. Stay safe by turning the heating system completely off. Don’t use it again until the repairs are complete.
Gas Leak
What does natural gas smell like? Nothing! An additive called mercaptan is used to give natural gas a stinky odor, so you can tell if it’s leaking into your home. It’s rotten, sulfurous, and eggy. This smell means you need to get everyone out of the house immediately!
Get at least 300 feet away before you stop to make phone calls. Your gas provider has an emergency line just for this purpose. If you can’t figure that out quickly enough, just call 911.
Avoiding Future Problems
Remember, many of these issues should not have got to the point of requiring repair. They could have been caught by a technician during routine maintenance, before they cause you any worry or inconvenience! Schedule furnace service in Lakeside, MT now.
For all of your heating needs, contact Bill’s Superheat, Inc. today! Here to Save the Day!