Heat pumps use electric backup strips in cold weather, and dust buildup on these strips burns off when they first fire up, creating a brief burning smell that lasts about five minutes. If the smell persists longer, call an HVAC technician. Regular seasonal maintenance can reduce it.
So you've all been there. The first really cool night, really cold day, your heat pump comes on and you're smelling something that is not normal. You're having that burning smell and you wonder, is your unit on fire? Is something messed up? Is something burning? What's going on? Do I need to call the fire department? Do I need to call the heating and air person? What's what's happening? Well, first let's go back to what heat pumps are and what's going to happen. So when it gets cold outside and it cannot keep up with the, the demand inside for your set thermostat temperature, it's going to bring on— all heat pumps have them when they're installed, should have them— it's going to bring on the heat strips, what's called the heat strips, or the electric backup heaters. Now these heaters are wires, so when they first activate after a long period of time, they have dust, dirt, debris, whatever's happened between, you know, all this time of the spring, summer, in the fall. All that has built up on these wires, so the very first time it turns on It has to burn that off, and that's what you're smelling in the house, is that burning off. Now, it should be a quick burning smell, like 5 minutes maybe of a burning smell. If that's happening, you probably don't have a problem. If you keep smelling the burning smell, you do have a problem, and you do need a professional to come out, take a look at what's going on. It's very hard to prevent this from happening. The one thing you can do is make sure to have your unit maintenance maintained, because when they do that service before the season, they will activate those heat strips to make sure everything's working good. The burning smell from your heat pump is probably going to be normal. It's probably going to be fine. Again, if it lingers more than a couple minutes, you probably need to turn off the thermostat, turn off the heat strips, turn off the heater, turn off the heat pump, call a professional, and get things checked out to make sure your system is working the best that it can.
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