smells like rotten eggs

[luagui]

how is everyone doing?

i have a utility room in my coach home that has my furnace, water heater, washer and dryer. i turned my a/c on about 3 weeks ago. every now and again when i go into my utility room or even pass it as i'm walking by, there is a very distinct smell that almost smells like rotten eggs. does anyone have any idea of what this could be? should i be concerned because i really do not know what to think besides how bad it smells. if anyone has any information on this i would greatly appreciate it.

thanks.

[Jabarco]

I don't know about your water heater but I have a 2nd home located on the Arizona side of the Colorado River. We only go there about once a month except for the summer time when we're there 3 or 4 times a month. Anyways, when we're not there for more than 2 or 3 weeks, we have to run the hot water wide open for 10 to 15 minutes to get rid of that rotten eggs smell. My granddaughter does believe it's the hot water heater. She thinks it's me.

Jabs

[acmech13]

why not go into this room and see if food is rotting on the floor? if you get a guardian air purifier it can eliminate this odor.

[diesel65]

That would be sulfur that you are smelling, do you have a well for your water? you may need some system service if so, if not it is probably your hot water heater It should be pretty simple to rectify your problem, you will have to call a plumber out, I am not sure exactly what causes this to happen I just know it does and is usually an easy fix.

[DWB]

Change the anode in your water heater.

[stvc]

Maybe a bird flew down the chimney and lay some eggs in there! :)
I'm kidding but only half, a while back I kept hearing birds in my basement but I couln't find anything when I looked. After a few days it stopped. I later found 2 dead birds in the woodstove!

[AIR PRO]

propane?

[stvc]

That just reminded me of another stinky story. As soon as I walked into a customers house a nasty smell hit me, no it wasn't their housekeeping. I looked at what I was there for but mentioned carefully the smell. They said they also meant to ask about it but forgot. After some investigating I found a bunch of dead mice in the air handler, stuck in the pleats of the filter and blower compartment. Nasty.

[BigJon3475]

Attach hose to the water heater and place hose somewhere it can drain out. Empty water heater completely. Then shut water on and off to mix up the junk in the bottom of the hot water heater. If it has an anode it would be a good time to change it it's considered "sacrificial" and takes the abuse as long as it can when it goes bad it can drop down to the bottom of the hot water heater and short out or break the elements. This will extend the life of the hot water heater and should be done every two years or so. This info is usually in the water heater owners manual. If this is a gas water heater you can still clean it out. And when filling your water heater back up after washing the gunk out go to the farther point away from water heater and open a faucet or shower valve to allow the air to purge out you may also need to remove your aerators so they don't clog.

[hvac_superman]

Do you have a floor drain in the room? If you never pour water down the drain the trap can dry up and sewer gas will get in.

[markmast]

r u sure its not natural gas?

[BigJon3475]

r u sure its not natural gas? Could be you have a leak if it is gas. It smells like rotten eggs almost.

[luagui]

thanks for the information but, this only happens once in a while so if it was natural gas, would'nt it smell all the time? oh well, i guess if it is not harmful i could deal with it. i will try pouring water down the drain, maybe that will help. thanks guys.

[BigJon3475]

It would depend. In one situation we had out air handlers in a closet and when a leak would happen during heavy run times you would never smell the gas leak. If it was low load conditions where the fan would not come on nearly as often it would have a chance to build up and that's always when we got calls on gas leaks it's quiet common on older systems.

[acmech13]

how do you know its not harmful. decaying animals rotting in a return is unhealthy. your spreading bacteria around your house.