my gas-pack (gas heat, electric a/c) is really old. like 14 years or so. every once in a while there is this weird sweet burnt smell coming from the registers. the very first time it happened i called our heat/ac man out. he said some insulation fell in & was burning. he pulled a piece out & said it's not dangerous to breathe the fumes in the house. my dad (architect) also said it's okay to breathe.

it didn't happen again for a long time, maybe 2 years or so. it's happening again but more frequently. the first time i smelled it this year, it was REALLY strong. i went out, opened the unit up, & pulled out the only remaining accessible piece of insulation, which was burned. the smell has happened 4 times since. i haven't immediately run out there to check it bc i know the only piece of insulation i could have gotten to was removed that time. the smell now only lasts a couple of minutes & doesn't happen every time the heat comes on.

i've been looking around on google & can't find anybody else describing this problem. is it actually safe to breathe that in? what else can i do beside calling the tech back out? they're a very respected company out here & my parents have used him for years. almost everybody else i know uses him too...so he's not some random guy we picked out of the phone book.

1/15/2011 9:18:41 AM

I always thought it was completely normal for central heat units to give off a burning smell from time to time. Dust build up and all that.

1/15/2011 10:16:06 AM

i don't think so. it was definitely insulation the first 2 times because we had pieces of burnt & still warm insulation as proof. it's not the same burnt dust smell, i've smell that before. this is a sweet smell. i wouldn't think that that much dust could build up enough to smell when burned right now. the heat fires on several times a day, this smell happens maybe once a week (this winter). i've lived here almost 5 years & it didn't happen the first 3.

maybe some other piece is burning along w/ the insulation. i'm not sure.

[Edited on January 15, 2011 at 11:45 AM. Reason : ]

1/15/2011 11:43:48 AM

I have another question... is it normal to sometimes smell gas from the gas pack? Mine is older as well.

1/19/2011 10:19:26 AM

You mean outside the unit or in the house?

The former, yes. The latter, HELL NO GET OUT.

1/20/2011 7:39:18 AM

inside... hang on let me light this candle...

jk outside.

1/20/2011 12:30:30 PM

Yeah, a faint smell of gas is normal. If you sniff it and pass out, might want to call an HVAC guy the minute you wake up.

1/20/2011 2:25:47 PM

a faint smell near the unit is normal. if you're on the other side of the yard & you don't normally smell it there, no.

this odd burnt smell is happening more frequently. a few times today. it's such a distinctive smell & i can't liken it to anything else. we called the heat/air guy back out earlier this week. he said there wasn't any insulation burning, but that maybe a bearing in the motor was going out. he said it'd be around $325 to replace the motor (incl labor). is that a good price? he added some oil & we're going to wait it out.

i used to have a home warranty, but when the heat started failing a few years ago, the contractors that AHS sent out were absolute morons. plus they were slow; they'd take a couple of days to come out, whereas our current guy shows up in a couple of hours. i went w/o heat for 15+ days (not all in a row) one winter bc those stupid fucks didn't know how to fix anything. finally the warranty ran out. i called our current heat/air guy, he replaced a burner in 15 minutes, & everything worked fine. absolutely ridiculous...

but now that it sounds like we might be coming up on major repairs/possibly a new unit, should i get another home warranty & risk getting a shitty contractor again? i'd definitely rather spend $500 than $5000, but i have a feeling i'd end up having to go w/o heat for extended periods again. ugghhhhh what to do?!

1/21/2011 10:54:30 PM