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why does my furnace smell like something is burning?
i changed the filter on my rheem criterion gas furnace & now when it kicks on, the house smells like something is burning & it is making a weird sound. What am i doing wrong?
this is not a new furnace. I am a renter & when i finally found the where the filter was, i changed it. It was FILTHY & and bent over like the air had pushed it through. the filter i have is 16X20. i can't not get a hold of my landlord but he lives in georgia & i live in Chicago. I can't afford to call a HVAC guy. PLease help. what other information do you need?!?! the landlord said he put the furnace in last summer but we have been running it regularly since begin of winter. We notice the furnace was making a weird sound this morning so we decided to investigate. I figured the sound was because the filter had been bent over but now that i changed the filter the sound is even louder ( like a really loud whirring sound) & the house smells like something is burning!
according to my landlord the ducts were cleaned this past summer.
its smells like wood burning
6 Answers
- callipygenousLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
Something IS burning, that's why. Could be just about anything, from pulling in return air that smells like smoke to an electrical problem in the air handler. We need way more information to be able to tell you. Don't worry, it's not a cracked heat exchanger, that doesn't smell like anything, it just kills you. Call the HVAC guy or give us a lot more info about this burning smell and the "weird sound."
Does it smell electrical or does it smell like wood burning?
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Read the edit. Hmm...a loud whirring sound and the smell of burnt wood or paper... Well, I guess you could have dislodged something from the ductwork when you changed the filter and have had it fall into the heat exchanger. That's about my only guess and it isn't an easy fix or a do-it-yourself project. As far as the whirring motor sound, there's only two motors in there, the cold air induction motor and the blower (squirrel cage) motor. Neither one is close enough to the heat exchanger to get debris that fell into them burned.
I'm sticking with "something fell into the heat exchanger when you changed the filter." You can tear it apart yourself, but it's a long, drawn out process. If you aren't in the HVAC biz, I wouldn't even try it. Your best bet is to call the guys that installed the system and have them come out. It's still under warranty if it's only a year old.
It's more than likely an installation error (they left the manual for the furnace in the plenum-main junction). I did that once. Embarrassing and expensive.
Most decent and respectable installers put a label on the front of the air-handler (your furnace) with their name and phone number on it. Call them.
- Alice CLv 41 decade ago
Is it the right filter? If its to thick it maybe holding back to much air flow and the blower motor is becoming hot. Also is the furnace new? If so it maybe just the newness of it burning off, metal stretching and so on.
- T CLv 71 decade ago
Have you gone back to look at the system since you replaced the filter?
The noise may indicate that the filter retaining rod is not in place.
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