Air Conditioning - Garage Odors In House

Not sure what do to about this, but the wife is on me to figure it out. I have a new house with an air conditioner for the upstairs and one for the downstairs. I don't know much about them, but I'll describe what I have. There are 2 units outside and one big unit in the garage. The smells from the garage can only be smelled in the downstairs. I store a bass boat in the garage and a faint smell of gas exists in the garage. That smell seems to be amplified when the air is on in the house, but only downstairs. I verified that is was coming from the garage last night, by spraying some air freshener around the unit. It then could be smelled in the house, but only downstairs.

We had a guy come out the other day and he sealed some things up in the garage. Should I have him come back out? Is this normal, or is something wrong? Why wouldn't I smell it upstairs?

Thanks for your input.
Jason

I'll describe what I have. There are 2 units outside and one big unit in the garage.


I am lost here. you sure you dont have 2 units in the garage also . Just that they are together. You dont say what they are heatpumps, gas ,oil for heat. Id sure check the cold air return duct out in the garage. On the down stair unit is the return duct from the down stairs ok so it dont suck air from the garage.
For sure get them back on this.

ED

He probably has two condensor units outside, one evaporator unit in the garage that services the downstairs, and one lost evaporator unit somewhere...

I agree. Get them back out and have them do an environmental seal on the unit in the garage so that it cannot pull air from the garage and introduce it into your downstairs living area.

Thanks for the help. Sorry I am not more familiar with what I have. I will get them back out and cross my fingers that it will be taken care of this time.

Again thanks for the quick replies.
Jason

mdtaylor is correct and the missing unit is in the attic. I went out in the garage armed with an incense stick last night. When I held it close to the floor the smoke was sucked directly into the unit. I took off the front panel to see if I could see where, but couldn't really tell. There is some sort of fan running and it is sucked in behind it. I've called GE to come back out and look at it, but I'm concerned how they are going to handle it. The first guy went back and apparently told them that he didn't smell anything in the house.

So when they come back out again and I show them what I determined with the incense stick, should they definelty see that there is a problem?

Again thanks for your help on this and sorry for the newbie descriptions.

- Jason

Yes,. Make sure you show them your smoke test. There is a liability issue with an airhandler in a garage and you want to make sure it's sealed up good.

You know while this is going on If I where you I get me a Carbon Monoxide alarm and put it in the home You can also get one that covers explosive gas Nat LP and methane all in the same unit. Cant hurt.

ED

Again thanks for all your help on this. I do have a carbon monoxide detector in the house, although it is just the standard. I may upgrade in the future so that it detects those others you mentioned.

I'm curious what the liability issues are?

This is a great site. I'll be sure to follow up and post the results of the GE visit in case this will help someone else in the future.

Thanks.
Jason

Gas fumes floating through your house is one. If somebody inadvertanly is running the car even with the garage door open you could send co through out the house.

So the repair man came out today to look at the air handler in the garage. A different guy came out a couple of weeks ago and sealed the unit up with silicone. The problem is where the utility panel attaches. There are several air gaps there and that is where the garage odors are coming through. When the fan is on it sucks them right in. The ArmStrong unit I think has a design flaw by having the fan on the lower half. That is where gas fumes and carbon monoxide would be and get sucked into the house.

Anyways the repair guy said that this is how these units are. The previous guy was able to slow the intake down, but it will never be complete. He suggested putting some weather stripping inside the doors, but that was all he could offer. He said that all the units in the neighborhood behave like this. He also said that you would never want to completely seal off a unit, that you need some outside air to come in.

So what is up with this? I thought for sure he would see a problem and be able to fix it.

I'm considering cutting a board the same size as the opening inside the door and jamming it in there with weather stripping. I think that would take care of most of the smell, but what about making it too tight?

Does any of what he said make sense, or should I get another opinion?

Sorry for the long reply and thanks for all your help.
Jason

Not sure what do to about this, but the wife is on me to figure it out.
"I have a new house "with an air conditioner for the upstairs and one for the downstairs.
How new ?????????

The smells from the garage can only be smelled in the downstairs. I store a bass boat in the garage and a faint smell of gas exists in the garage. That smell seems to be amplified when the air is on in the house, but only downstairs. I verified that is was coming from the garage last night, by spraying some air freshener around the unit. It then could be smelled in the house, but only downstairs.

He also said that you would never want to completely seal off a unit, that you need some outside air to come in.

Thats for combustion air for the burners. Not for the air from are back into the home

There are several air gaps there and that is where the garage odors are coming through. When the fan is on it sucks them right in.

I would for sure go back to the builder and the furnace company that put it in Might want to see an attorney. Might also check on code there. Are the burners up off the floor as high as code calls for there.

ED

Ed.

Who could I call to come look at the unit? Some sort of inspector I guess that has an independent opinion. The house is 11 months old.

- Jason

Ed, you got me worked up with the mention of an attorney. So I call my realator (also a good friend) and he told me to call a home inspector here in Knoxville by the name of Kenny Ledford. I guess he also used to design heating and air units. He is coming out tomorrow to do an inspection.

He said it is definetly a dangerous situation that needs to be fixed. He thought it was just a matter of sealing the access doors with a special foil tape.

So with his documentation I should be able to get the builder to get the air company back out to do a proper job. Then it is also documented if it comes time to sell my house.

I guess the bigger deal here is that there are already 100 houses in the neighborhood done just like this. I'm going ask the builder to notify all of them of this dangerous situation or I will send a letter to all of them.

I'm really upset at the guy that came out this morning and told me it was ok and that all the houses in the neighborhood were like this. He is either a lier or not so smart.

Thanks for all your help. I could'nt have done it without your advice, and have learned a lot about a split air system.

Thank You.
Jason

Thats under the one year deal that most homes have on them. GO GET THEM. Id also call code and ask them how they could CO the home this way.

ED

He also said that you would never want to completely seal off a unit, that you need some outside air to come in.

Does any of what he said make sense, or should I get another opinion?


No, this makes no sense at all. The A/C recirculates air from inside the home and does not add outside air. And, in the case of the unit being in the garage it makes for a dangerous situation.

Please clarify one thing...do you also have a gas furnace in this air handler? That would be the only reason why air would need to go into the air handler, but even still, that air would only go into the combustion chamber and then be vented outside. It still would not get into the house unless the heat exchanger was bad.

I would be hesitant to send a letter to other homeowners in the area. Suppose you said something just a little inaccurate and it resulted in damges to the builder? You're opening yourself up to your own lawsuit. You surely do not want to be in a position to have to defend yourself. I would get your home inspection done and circulate a copy to your neighbors and let them make their own INFORMED decision on what they want to do.