Reasons Your Heater Smells Like Its Burning

If you’ve ever grown up with an old heating system in your house or had an older car that had radiant heat from the engine through the blower, you’ll know to expect smells from time to time. This can become normalized as something that happens with heating systems for many people.

However, it’s not strange odors aren’t always alright and could even be potentially hazardous if you don’t care for them properly when you encounter them. Here are a few reasons your heater smells like it’s burning.

Electrical Issues Are Very Common

When you have an electrically driven device as a component in a larger machine or working individually, you can often assume that the wiring is malfunctioning as your first diagnosis when something goes wrong. Electric problems can cause burning smells in a heater. If you do routine maintenance on your heater and check its electrical components and wiring, you’ll likely be able to fix whatever is wrong very quickly.

Make Sure You’re Cleaning Your Vents

If you haven’t scheduled a time to clean your heater’s vents, you’re doing yourself a disservice. As with anything else you neglect, it’ll collect dust and debris over time. Operating your heater with dirty vents can cause a burning smell in your house until you have it cleaned properly.

Moreover, without proper airflow, your heater can also overheat and not work as efficiently. These potential issues are also why many people have converted to HVAC mini split systems for their air and heating. Such systems enable people to avoid dealing with traditional air duct systems and heater ventilation.

Something Could Be Trapped

Another reason you should maintain your unit often is that something could get trapped inside it. Although this is less likely to occur, it’s still a possibility, which gives you a reason to routinely check it. The last thing you would want is something to catch fire inside your heater and cause the entire unit to go ablaze.

There are many reasons why your heater may smell like it’s burning, but you’ll never know unless you investigate yourself. Otherwise, you could cause yourself harm later if you continue to run it in a less optimal condition.