Does the air coming out of your registers and vents smell? Is there an odor that gets worse when your heat or air conditioning is running? If so, you obviously have a problem with your HVAC system. Often, odor problems are very easy to find and solve. In some cases, it might be more difficult. This article gives a few helpful tips for finding and getting rid of odors within your HVAC system. It is most likely that your odor originates from somewhere within your duct system.

Check for Mold in Your Ducts

You want to start by checking your air ducts. To do this, you need to remove the air registers from the wall. Registers can be easily removed with just a handheld screwdriver. Once your registers are off of the wall, you will need a powerful flashlight to see as deep in them as possible.

There are a few things you should look for when you're trying to spot the source of an odor. First of all, check to see if there is any black build up along the duct walls. This is most likely mold, which can definitely be smelly. In addition to being smelly, mold can also pose a health hazard, and wreak have it on your allergies.

If you do have mold within your duct system, you might be able to clean it out, if you can reach it. However, there are also going to be sections of your duct system that you cannot easily see you without professional duct cleaning equipment. So, even if you are able to clean your ducts, you should probably hire professional cleaners to give your system a more thorough cleaning.

Animal Carcasses

You should also look small animal carcasses within your duct system. Small rodents or birds can get caught within your duct system. Even such tiny animals can have smelly carcasses. You want to read your ducts of any animal carcasses as quickly as possible to stop the odor from spreading.

As you can see, checking your duct system for odors is not that difficult. There are some other points where odors can originate. However, even if your odors are coming from somewhere like the heat pump or furnace, you will still need to have your ducts cleaned to completely get rid of the odor. That is, if odor is coming out of your air registers, this means that the order is probably imbedded in your duct system. Also, you want to thoroughly clean your registers before reattaching them to the wall because they can also harbor odors.

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