Are you trying to get rid of a nasty smell in your home, does it seem like this smell gets worse when your air conditioning is turned on? If so, the source of the smell could lie within your ducts, furnace cabinet, or even the condenser unit outside your home. This article explains how to check (and hopefully fix) smells coming from any of these three sources: 

Smells in the Ducts

If the smell is in your duct system, it will be easy to identify, but difficult to clean yourself. That is, you can easily remove your air registers and use a flashlight to look deep inside you duct system. If you see mold or notice a strong smell when you pop your head inside the ducts, your problem is probably somewhere in there. That being said, to fully rid your ducts of this odor, you should probably hire professionals. It will be too difficult to do yourself since you don't have the right tools for the job.

Smells in the Furnace Cabinet

The furnace cabinet is usually located in the basement or garage. Because of this, it can get moldy, and there is also a risk of animals crawling inside the furnace and dying. If this happens, the air blowing past a carcass can be very smelly as it circulates into your duct system. You can check inside your furnace, keeping your eyes and nose open for anything that could be causing the odor. If the odor is coming from your furnace cabinet, be prepared to have the furnace and the air ducts cleaned.

Smells in the Condenser Unit

You can have similar issues with your condenser unit. But, odors that come in from the condenser are usually filtered out by the furnace filter. So, if you feel like you can notice a strong smell, whether it be from mold, an animal carcass, or any other sort of outside debris, you will not only need to clean the condenser unit but also your furnace and your duct system.

In conclusion, it is usually most convenient if your odor is coming from within your duct system because it means that you only need to clean the ducts, and not the other two vital components of your central HVAC system. That being said, you should always change all of your air filters on a regular basis to help filter out some of the odor.

Contact a heating repairs specialist for more information and assistance.