Episode 474 of the Derek Cole Podcast answers listener HVAC questions: a sour/mildewy smell when heating starts is caused by bacteria on the evaporator coil or in the condensate/drain pan and should be treated with UV lights and drain-pan treatments; carbon monoxide (CO) safety guidance stresses having CO detectors (one per living level and in sleeping areas) placed at floor level rather than ceiling height and shutting off furnaces with cracked heat exchangers due to CO risk. The episode includes host closing calls-to-action promoting healthier home air and simmons1hour.com.
Questions this episode answers
Bacteria on the evaporator coil or in the condensate/drain pan.
Use UV on the coil and apply a drain-pan (pan) treatment to kill algae/bacteria.
At floor level on the wall (near floor outlets); ceiling placement is acceptable for smoke but not effective for CO.
One in each living level and in living/sleeping spaces (multiple detectors for different sides of a single-story house).
Shut the furnace off because a cracked heat exchanger can allow CO to enter the living space; treat as a safety hazard.
Hey, on this episode, we talk about a sour smell when my heating comes on. And why did your technician offer a seal alarm at my house?
Hey, everyone, I'm Derek Cole, host of the Derek Cole Podcast. And we believe in taking the time to explain how things work for your air at home or your business. Let's get into today's episode. Please listen closely and maybe even take some notes so you can remember these insights of home comfort and energy savings and share this episode with three of your friends, because we all need to share better ways to be more comfortable at home. Be sure to tag me or DM me on Instagram Derek Mcole so I can say hi. Thanks again for listening. And let's begin.
What is that sour smell when I turned my heat on?
The smell you're getting when you first turn your heat on is because of, well, it's really bacteria. It's something that could be in the.
Drain pan or it could be on.
That coil causing that smell to happen. So when you first activate your heat, you get that kind of a. We call it a dirty stock. It's a kind of a sour smell, a mildewy kind of smell. And that's relief from that bacteria being on that coil or. Or in that drain pan. And you're getting that smell because it's coming up into the environment and blowing it into your house. So how you solve that problem is uv. UV is the only way to solve that problem. You put a pan treatment into the drain pan to kill any algae or bacteria, because if it just sits there, it's going to die and it's going to smell. So you want it to be taken care of by drain pan treatment and. And by UV on that coil. So nothing can grow on that coil, therefore nothing can grow in the pan. That makes sense. Man, that's a quick answer. I've been going like seven minutes my scuba shows.
Why did your tech tell me I needed a carbon monoxide detector?
Because you don't have one. That's why I told you you needed one. So if you have a gas applian in the home at all, stove, furnace, anything in the home running off of gas, you should have a carbon monoxide detector in the home. A lot of clients we go to have a combination smoke and carbon monoxide detector in the house. The problem is with the co part of it, or the carbon monoxide part is that when it's up high on the ceiling, it's not doing you any good whatsoever because carbon monoxide is heavy. So the best thing to do Is put it on floor level with the outlets on the floor, on the wall. That is where it needs to go. If it's up there, high in the ceiling, on top of the wall, it's good for a smoke alarm, but it's not good for a CO alarm. So if you don't have one, you need one. It's recommended you have one in all living spaces. If you have multiple levels to the house, you have one on each level. Even if you have a single story house, but. Or you have a bedroom on one side, bedrooms on the other side, then you should have one on that side and this side, basically. So it can go off. If you have any kind of carbon monoxide, which is odorless, you can't smell it, you can't feel it, you can't sense it. So the alarm sets it off. And most cases, people get in trouble because it's usually at nighttime when they're asleep, when it starts to bother them, it's something you can't feel going on. So you need that alarm in the living space or in the sleeping space to alarm you when that hazard is there. And as soon as you have a CO alarm go off, you need to have it checked out. And if you have. The biggest thing with a gas furnace is when you have a cracked heat exchanger. When you have a cracked heat exchanger, that code, it's possible that CO can now come into the home, come into the living space. And that is very, very dangerous. So whenever we see a cracked heat exchanger, we turn it off for that reason. It's a safety hazard. Not saying it's a hundred percent chance they're going to come in, but you don't even want the possibility of it coming in. So we're going to shut it off and kill it so it doesn't affect you and your family. And the reason he went to your home and said, hey, you need one of these alarms is because you either don't have one or you have one in the wrong spot. Again, if you have a carbon dioxide and smoke detector alarm in the ceiling, no good for you. You need it at ground level where it can detect it before it gets. If it gets to that point it goes off, then the house is empty anyway because everyone in it is dead. Because it's gotten that bad, it's kind of morbid.
Okay. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the De at Cole podcast. Tell some people about this episode. It's on each of us, really, to spread the better ways to be healthier and more comfortable in our homes and workspaces. I'm asking you to be the dealer of positive and life changing messages in your circle of influence. Take a screenshot right now and share this screenshot and the link to this episode with three of your friends today. Share on social media Use the hashtag Healthy Home. That's Healthy Home. We are always giving away shout outs prizes to our community. If you would like to help me personally then please rate and review on Apple podcast. Give us some stars. Leave a review because that stuff actually does help and I read all the comments. So my last thought for today please remember you deserve better air at home and greater comfort at home. Don't settle for being uncomfortable for your heating air every single month. We are so thankful for having you here in our community and be sure to go deeper with us at simmons1hour.com.
