Return Air Duct Smell

Damp musty crawlspaces can impact the living space and duct work especially if the ducts are not air tight and they usually are not.

Return air duct smell.

Either way it s supposed to make. When the return duct is leaky it can suck air from the crawlspace when the air is being pulled to the unit. You may smell heating combustion flue gases. Is the smell coming from a specific vent or is it distributed throughout the home.

I had the smell abd taste for about a half hour or more. In many cases you ll smell it before you can see it. This is a particular issue with bathrooms and kitchens. If every room seems to have a musty odor the issue might be with your return ducts.

Removing a smell from an air duct is not an easy process if you do not know where the odor originates. Musty smells may cause headaches or aggravate health issues such as asthma or allergies. When the supply ducts are leaky they can actually suck air in through the venturi effect. This part of your ductwork feeds air from your home back through your heating and cooling system to be cooled down once more.

In addition winter air is naturally lower in humidity so molds and mildews grow. Air conditioning particularly central air is a luxury for some and a necessity to others. The next best thing to eliminate the smell is by using duct filter pads. But if combustion gases from a heating or hot water system or possibly a wood stove or coal stove are not being safely vented to outdoors you may smell other telltale products of combustion including those gases entering the duct system either through a leak in the heat exchanger or by return air.

Hello i have forced air oil heat at the end of the blower going through its cycle i get a sweet smell taste in the air so bad that in winter i had to get out of the place for a while. If you notice a musty or moldy smell that goes away when you are not using your air conditioning or heating if they share ducts that can narrow the cause down to mold in your hvac system. The odor goes away during the winter because the heated air rushing through the ducts dries up the moisture. Im a diesel mechanic know most oil fuel sulfur smells this reminds me of antifreeze being.

If you cannot determine from where the smell is coming call an air duct cleaning company and have your ductwork inspected. Mold may grow inside return air ducts and air flowing through the ducts will carry the musty odor to your rooms. They can assist you in finding the exact cause of your odor problem and take measures to get it resolved. An unusual or musty odor is often the first sign of mold in air ducts or in air vents.

How to get rid of the smell of mildew from a central air conditioner. If the smell wasn t coming from the air conditioning unit then it may be coming from any part of the duct system.