Last winter, I turned on the furnace for the season and it had the worst smell ever.
It was so bad that I was actually embarrassed to have anyone over. It honestly smelled like burning hair and it drove my husband and I crazy. We were trying to use the heat as minimally as possible, but unfortunately, we had little choice throughout the winter. We were determined to fix this odor. We started out by cleaning the air filter as well as cleaning the inside of the system. That didn’t do anything. Then I washed our walls, ceiling as well as floors hoping that the odor was being pulled into our HVAC duct. That didn’t do anything at all. My husband researched possible sources for the smell and thought maybe it was the inner workings of the furnace that needed cleaning. He hired a guy for HVAC repairs, and he did a great job. He cleaned and oiled the furnace, and he even replaced a part that we needed. Unfortunately, the odor remained. I finally called our Heating as well as Air Conditioning company to see if they knew what the source of the smell could be. The receptionist was really knowledgeable as well as friendly! She right away told me the issue was our HVAC duct. Dirt and hair accumulated in our ducts, so when the oil furnace would turn and blow through the ducts, it was definitely burning the air. I immediately scheduled an HVAC duct cleaning. The HVAC specialist was at our house the very next day. Within just a few hours, he had gotten rid of that wretched odor. It was worth every penny getting rid of that odor. I am now not afraid to turn on our heating machine.