# house vents have sweet smell when gas furnace is running



## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

Just to make sure since some people have a different olfactory system that makes things smell differnt to them than the average person;

Do you know what lp or natural gas (whichever you have) smells like? 

Carbon monoxide is odorless so it shouldn't be that (but do you have an CO detector anyway)

Maybe the mice got into your Wife's perfume. M


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## yuri (Nov 29, 2008)

call the gas co ASAP and have them come and check for CO carbon monoxide. it has no smell BUT the fumes from the furnace do and it travels with them. lots of people report a sweet smell and headaches when they have CO poisoning.

you also need 2 new CO detectors as they fail with old age. 1 in your bedroom and the other in the furnace area.


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## zappa (Nov 25, 2011)

Not sure if this is related but I get a smell out of my ducts that could be described as stale flowers in my trailer in the woods when the heat hasn't been run in a while. Looking in the registers, it always seems like the mice and insects had a big ole shindig in the duct work.


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## grneyz55 (Feb 25, 2015)

Thanks folks,
I do have a fairly new co detector and it is not going off and has new batteries, Last year I came home from work and the house was filled with gas as the fire men found a cracked flex pipe on the water heater, and this smells nothing like that. I found other people with the same problem and they have gone to much further lengths then I have, some of these people have almost new furnaces, I believe mine is about 15 years old. I called a furnace guy who just couldn't be bothered and said I probably sucked up some potpourri in the filter and if the smell did not go away in 3 days then call him back, Never mind what I thought of him ...but FAT chance he's gonna get that call, If you think of anything else please advise, I'm gonna turn off the heat, get under the electric blanket and call the gas company tomorrow morning. I live outside Chicago and it is quite cold here today.
P.S. Thanks any way but It is not my wives perfume as I am a straight woman LOL
grneyz55


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## yuri (Nov 29, 2008)

I cannot believe the dumb attitude some people ( the "furnace guy" ) have about CO poisoning. Safety comes first and it costs nothing to get the gas co or Fire Dept down to check for CO. People have died and NEVER woke up from that stuff or eneded up in comas.

After that we check for sewer gas smells or other possibilites but getting CO checked when headaches and smells are mentioned is a red flag red alert sceanrio.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

yuri said:


> . People have died and NEVER woke up from that stuff
> .


Well yuri, I can't say I have ever seen anybody that woke up after they died.


Sorry, couldn't resist.




but to the gravity of the issue; yes, get it checked. CO detectors aren't perfect. They can be wrong.


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## beenthere (Oct 11, 2008)

grneyz55 said:


> P.S. Thanks any way but It is not my wives perfume as I am a straight woman LOL
> grneyz55


LOL.

The low voltage transformer can put off a sweet smell when it begins to over heat. If it begins to burn out, the smell will change. Make sure they check it.


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## grneyz55 (Feb 25, 2015)

Hello,
And THANK YOU to those of you who got back to me. Yesterday was a busy day starting with the gas company NO gas leak YAY... then a furnace man came in a snow storm, checked out everything in the furnace no issues there even complemented me on how clean and dust free I keep it. Finally the plumber came, Thank you Yuri you were right it was sewer gases coming up through the pipes and the air intake on the furnace was picking it up and sending it through the duct work. The pipe was cleaned out and the Gross smell is no longer coming through the vents however I spent the rest of the day washing my bedding, curtains, coats and everything else I could find that smells like that awful smell as it settles on everything it comes in contact with.
I really appreciate everyone's advise, Thanks again... Have a great day!
grneyz55


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## yuri (Nov 29, 2008)

Pour a small amount of cooking oil into the water/trap in the floor drain. Prevents it from drying out/evaporating. That happens and then you can get the smell. Once in awhile pour some bleach in there if it stinks to kill the germs.

Glad you are safe.


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## gassyplumber (Sep 17, 2014)

Mineral oil in p trap. Vegetable oil will go rancid.


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## Jordan Bronson (Dec 5, 2019)

Does it have... Weird Sweet Smell Odor, Rotten Veggie Smell or Garlic or Cabbage Add Sweetness or Sweet Tobacco Smell.... VERY hard to described? Cause Burn Eyes, Nose, Throat or Lung Irritation or Choking Like Coughing. Headaches and Nausea - Nauseating, Pungent, Sickening, Sicken Smelly, Queasy, Respiratory Issues, On and On and On.....

Here is the Link of the YouTube Video: 




Jordan


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