A burning smell coming from your air conditioning system is problematic for numerous reasons.
Burnt rubber smell in house air conditioner.
Ac smells like dirty socks.
The most likely reasons why your air conditioner smells like burning plastic are 1.
Change the filter schedule a professional tune up and cleaning and only smoke outdoors.
When the air conditioning is running there is a lot of condensation within the unit.
Shut off your air conditioner immediately.
Also the blower unit on the heating system if that s potentially going bad that could cause a burnt rubber smell which would be circulated through the house via the heating and air conditioning duct systems.
If something smells like it s burning it probably is.
For starters you re probably worried your air conditioning system is on fire don t worry just yet chances are it s probably not and two no one wants an unpleasant burning odor in their home every time they re trying to cool off or warm up.
Say hello to dirty sock syndrome when stagnant water collects within your ac it can cause a mildewy scent to permeate through the vents every time your system kicks on.
During a cold front when suddenly the need arises you may observe a burning smell.
Running the ac while something is wrong will only make things worse and result in a bigger repair bill.
It is just your furnace heat pump burning off dust.
But if you notice a burning smell and your ac is in cooling mode.
If you re using ac something is most likely overheating which is not good.
When the furnace is turned on the dust gets burned off.
Heat and continuous use wear out the belt which results in the burnt rubber ac smell.
The solution since the belt is made up of rubber it has to be replaced eventually.
Reasons why your air conditioner smells like burning plastic.
Well if there s a burning smell coming from your vents the problem really depends on whether you re using heat or air conditioning.
So those would be the first two things that i might think about.
Sometimes when you first turn on the heater it can smell like gas is burning.
You turn your ac on and your home begins to smell more like a locker room than that new candle you just bought.
If the smell isn t coming from the vents it s most likely a leak at a pipe fitting or within the equipment.
Belt overheating some air conditioners have a belt drive motor while others a direct drive motor.
Now call a professional air conditioning repair company to come fix the problem.
The belt in the belt drive motor systems is made of rubber.
When you turn on the air conditioner you may smell stale cigarette smoke.
If you re using heat for the first time this season it is a normal smell.
If someone has smoked in the home the odors could accumulate in the filter and evaporator coil.
When the moisture doesn t drain properly it can escape into the ducts and create mold.