Transcript of an Ask Derrick Cole podcast episode (episode 50 in the AskDerekCole series) where host Derek Cole answers listener questions about ceiling fan direction for cooling vs. heating, a persistent bleach/Clorox-like smell in back bedrooms (possible basement or stagnant/damp air source and recommendations to inspect basement and cleaning supplies, and to circulate/dehumidify), and burning vs. gas smells when the heat runs (dust burning off heat strips on heat pumps vs. raw gas smell which requires immediate attention). He also advises having CO detectors and routine maintenance.
Questions this episode answers
Episode 50
Over 60% (host cites 'over 60% of the indoor air comes from under the house').
Dust burning off the heat-strip backup elements on heat pumps (first-run burning smell).
Call the gas company or a heating/air company immediately; do not ignore a raw gas smell.
A carbon monoxide (CO) detector.
Chapters
Hey, on this episode, we talk about a bleach smell in your unit. Which direction are my fans supposed to be going and should I have a burning smell when my heat comes on? You ask your comfort and energy questions and they get answered. This is the Ask Derrick Cole Show.
Does changing the direction of my ceiling fan help anything?
It does, you're supposed to have it one way on air conditioning or when it's hot outside and down flow on heating. The reason is because heat rises. So in the fall and the winter when it's cold, you want obviously the warm air to come back down to living space. So that's why you have a reverse function on that fan because then it pushes that hot air back down just to rise back up again. So opposite way in the cooling season, you want the hot air out of the house, so it's blowing it up, taking the hot air going up, bring the hot air going down. So, yes, it does make a difference. You do need to pay attention. It's a little switch, right? Which way is it going? Which way is it going? So, yeah, it does make a difference. But just remember, fans, cool people, not rooms. So if you're not in the room, there's no reason to have the fan on. The fan gives you a wind chill effect, or in this case, in the wintertime, I don't know, like a desert effect. I don't. I'm not sure. But I'm saying that say this. Don't leave the fan on when you're not in the room because it's doing nothing for the room or for anything but have the fan on. So, yes, it does make a difference.
I keep smelling a bleach smell in two back bedrooms of our home. We have a whole house ac. Could this be the source of the smell? The home does have a basement.
I don't know. That's one of them deals that I would have to check out or somebody needs to check out, see where the smell is coming from. Now, you said basement. So something could be in the basement that you have that's causing that smell. Because I don't hold me to this, but believe studies have shown that over 60% of the indoor air comes from under the house. So it's obviously migrating up from the basement. So that could be one of the problems. So I would check that out first, see what's in the basement, if there's rooms to make sure something isn't coming up into the space that you're smelling. But yeah, that is kind of weird. So probably check that out. But it's not caused by your ac. I mean, it's not. It's not blowing any kind of Clorox smell into the environment. If the unit was just cleaned or just maintenance, maybe you'll get that smell. But, I mean, that should go away in a few days or a few cycles, depending on. On the weather. Now, with this weather, we've recently. Your house is probably getting a little musty kind of smelling because I hadn't run a whole lot. So what I did when I got back home was turn the AC back on, dehumidify, get rid of some of the smell. And that works. So just remember that when it's kind of in between, like it is this time of year and this season, going to where it's cold in the morning or cooler in the morning and warmer in the afternoon and then cooler again, your unit's not gonna be running a whole lot. So, you know, watch that temperature to make sure you're circulating that air. Otherwise, you get that damp, stale kind of a environment. It's just because it's not running, it's not pulling the air in and dehumidifying it. So Clorox. Not really sure what's going on there. I would. Since you said basement, I would check basement to see what's in that environment. If you have any kind of cleaning supplies, make sure everything's where it should be. If you read the instructions on cleaning supplies, they do want you to crack a window whenever you use them. A lot of people don't know that. That's why the products we put in the home is all natural products. It's not like a bleach or anything like that. People who are sensitive to it can be affected by it. So check all that, and if you still have a smell, get it checked. Personal use.
This one. We've actually had, like, three calls on that I've personally answered the phone for. Besides Caroline asking.
Hey, this next question. We have had three phone calls about it in just like yesterday. Oh, like in one day.
Okay. Why is it that you smell something burning when you turn your heat on for the first time, but not after that?
So what that is, is. I'm assuming these folks have heat pumps. What happens is, with your heat and your strip heat coming on as backup heat over the long summer, they're not used. They gather dust. So on that first time it's used, it's really burning the dust off. If you have a maintenance done, if it's done in the springtime, you know, middle summer, you'll get that More often, as we're doing maintenance now where it's cooler, of course we're activating that, you know, heat strip to make sure it is working. But again, if you had that maintenance in the summertime, it's probably gonna have that smell this time of year. So it's just, it's just the dust and stuff burning off. There's nothing to be alarmed about. It does kind of smell like a electrical burning smell, and that's the dust. So it's nothing to be alarmed about.
Maybe you should address too, because I had this phone call the other day, the difference between like that kind of smell and this lady called in and said, I just turned my heat on for the first time, but now it smells like gas.
Yeah, you shouldn't be having a rol. Gas smell. Yeah. So with that, you could have a gas pressure issue or a gas line issue. A lot of units we go to, we do have to adjust the pressure every year. And depending on if it's lp, if they refilled the tank, if there's somewhere in a gas line during the summer, maybe a rock hit something and did a little thing. So, yeah, you shouldn't be having a kind of a raw gas smell when it comes on. I would call the gas company or your heating and air company, just check it out. Because that's two different kind of smells. I mean, one's a dust kind of electrical burning smell on a heat pump and one's just raw gas. And that's, that's very dangerous. So you don't want to do that. And again, I'll say it because it's very important with any gas. You should have a CO detector in your home. You want to make sure. Because LP or gas in general, they put that smell in there. I mean, it's not natural, you know, rotten egg smell. They put it in there for a reason. So you can smell it, detect it. But with co, when it leaks out, or if you got a hold the heat exchanger or whatever, you know, that's. You're not going to see it or smell it. So that's why you need a detector to make sure you're safe and your family is safe, because it's something that you can't smell. So. Yeah, And I think RCA detectors also detect natural gas when they come in. So again, you shouldn't be having. You shouldn't have a raw gas smell. So bad smell. Electrical burning heat strips for the first time of year. That's okay. That's gonna happen. Raw gas, not okay. You need to call somebody. That's it. That's episode 50. We're in the 50s now. That means the next was 51 and then 50. Okay. So if you have any questions, hashtag them, askderrickcole. We'll get them on the show. I appreciate the sharing and everything on Instagram and Facebook and keep the questions coming. We'd love to have him on the show.
