# This smell is driving me crazy!



## ginnie5 (Jul 15, 2003)

I smell something burning other than wood! I've checked the chimney...was up at 3am this morning in the attic feeling every part of it to see if it was hotter anywhere than it should be. I've unplugged things I think it is....nothing! Apparently I am the only one who smells it too. I've even walked thru the house feeling the walls near the outlets to see if one of them is the culprit. Can't find a thing that is making this smell. I couldn't sleep last night for it. Its stronger in the master bedroom than anywhere else and its not constant......dh thinks I'm loosing it since he doesn't smell a thing.


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## mamita (May 19, 2008)

I won't help, but some days depending how the wind blows I smell my neighbor down the road's coal heat. sort of freaks me out when it's so strong. it can be sooooo strong, and they are not close! hope it's nothing more than wind drift for you!!


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## chickenmommy (Aug 24, 2004)

Hmm. Sounds like mischievous spirits to me. Have fun with them.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

my sweet love thought that about me too until i found the heating pad burning clear through to the bottom sheet about ready to burst into flame. i have a terrific sense of smell. there's probably something that you haven't found yet Ginnie. just because no one else smells it doesn't mean it isn't there.btdt. ~Georgia.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Keep looking. I was real nervous about a house we were renting once and couldn't find what the smell was. It burned to the ground after we moved out. Nobody home at the time and they couldn't figure out why it burned.


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## Just Little Me (Aug 9, 2007)

Check all cords, phone,clocks, etc. That was what I was smelling one night. It was the bedside lamp.


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## luvrulz (Feb 3, 2005)

do you have any of those air freshener thingeys? sometimes they get pretty hot....and they're plastic!


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## GrannyG (Mar 26, 2005)

Do you have flourescent lights ?.....maybe an overheating ballast....lost my old house to that ....


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## Debbie in Wa (Dec 28, 2007)

Keep checking every outlet, I had the same thing happen to me and went to use the dryer. Come to find out the plug had shorted and melted everything around it. Good thing I caught it or the house would have burned down.


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## bluemoonluck (Oct 28, 2008)

Had that happen recently here too.... our doorbell is broken but apparently a delivery guy rang it and it got stuck, so the box inside the house that it connects to was shorting out. Smelled like burning plastic :yuck:. Had to go hit the doorbell a few times to get it to un-jam, but it worries me that it could happen when we're not home.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

Bedbugs have a sweet almost cherry-like smell. There is some other bug that has a "hot" smell. I typically smell it for two or three days in fall during early afternoon hours. Electric sockets can char and go bad. Cut off the breaker to the outlet, remove the faceplate and then unscrew the socket itself and examine it. If the wires going into it from the wall are just pushed into holes in the socket and there are unused contact screws, clip off the wire and reattach it through the contact screws, which give a much better contact than the press-in holes. If you are looking for hot spots, a non-contact thermometer is a great tool. Just wave it at a wall and watch the temperature readout.


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## Travis in Louisiana (May 14, 2002)

Did you check the drier lint? Does it smell like an electrical burn, like wires or is it more of a wood fire smell? Did any food burn in a pan, that smell will linger sometimes. Get someone else to come over and help smell, locate the smell. You do have fire alarms? You are doing the right thing by checking. Do you have electric heat, you could have some parts burnt and the unit still work. Outside the master bedroom, is there any thing plugged in, sewer air pump, any barns or buildings that way, that may be the problem? If it gets stronger or want go away, you could have the fire department come see what they can find.


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## SilverFlame819 (Aug 24, 2010)

Several times now at work, people have thought I was crazy when I said I smelled something burning. Every time, we found that something either HAD been burnt, or was currently on fire!

The one that was on fire was right in the front of the store... The SAFE caught on fire! Nobody could smell it. They thought I was crazy, sniffing all around the registers... I was like, "It's the safe... Something's on fire in the safe." Of course, that sounds crazy. It's a steel safe, and none of us dropped a match into it, how can it be on fire?? And then smoke came pouring out of the top of the safe, and people were like, "Oh, she's not crazy..." DUH!

I say if you can smell it, IT'S THERE. Good luck to you on figuring out what it is!

Also, if you call the fire department, they can come down with an infrared thermometer and scan your bedroom to see if any area INSIDE the walls is hotter than another.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

oh my gosh Harry! you're going to have Ginnie stripping every bed in the house. lookin for bedbugs! ~Georgia.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

newfieannie said:


> oh my gosh Harry! you're going to have Ginnie stripping every bed in the house. lookin for bedbugs! ~Georgia.


It is a very distinct smell, not easily confused with others. If there are bedbugs, stripping the bed may not find them and will do little to do to cure the problem. BTDT.


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## Cygnet (Sep 13, 2004)

I have this happen occasionally. It's usually my neighbors burning trash or a hay fire somewhere in the area. The smell is always strongest in my living room -- sometimes stronger inside than outside. My house is a mobile with a crawl space and I think the stink gets caught under the crawl space and can be smelled long after whatever it is they're burning is done.


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## ginnie5 (Jul 15, 2003)

figured it out! It's been cold here so the woodstove has been going nonstop and dh has kept it hot. That's what I thought it was all along but it made no sense why I was smelling it in my bedroom and not anywhere else. There are two bedrooms over my room though....24yo dd is up there and the boys are in the other room. She was just telling me that they are freezing her to death keeping the window open in their room. That window is in a perfect position that if the wind blows a certain way the smell would come in...then its just a matter of it making it downstairs. Also explains why I'm only smelling it occasionally. 
I have gone thru this whole house feeling walls, outlets, and light fixtures. I even checked the smoke detectors (which haven't gone off).


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## eyore (Jan 7, 2011)

Women can smell things better than guys. Years ago when we rented, we had a gas leak, I was on the only one that could smell it when I walked past the cellar door. Called the gas company out to check things out and the hot water heater had a gas leak.


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## BrightBay (Aug 6, 2008)

I've had stuff like this happen. I've learned a few things. One, I shut doors to all rooms. Then, I leave the house for a while. When you re-enter your house, the smell will be more apparent. By having the doors closed, it also condenses the smell to a smaller area, making it easier to find. Might not have helped in your case though. Glad you figured out what it was and that it wasn't anything bad.


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

if it smells like burnt toast, you might want to get checked out at the hospital for stroke...


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## wendle (Feb 22, 2006)

Don't be afraid to keep checking. I kept smelling what reminded me of a hot iron, turned out to be a chimney fire. It was up in the attic, so was difficult to find at first. Fortunately we caught it quick, and called the fire department. Wires can get hot, or damaged. It pays to double and triple check. Make sure your smoke alarms are working properly.


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## fordy (Sep 13, 2003)

Debbie in Wa said:


> Keep checking every outlet, I had the same thing happen to me and went to use the dryer. Come to find out the plug had shorted and melted everything around it. Good thing I caught it or the house would have burned down.


.............THIS , Debbie is correct !

.................IF you connect something like a hair dryer that pulls 10 amps or so , and it is ON a LONG extension cord the amperage can and will overheat the insulation on the plug going into the wall socket ! It can over heat without actually tripping the circuit breaker , and possibly start a fire . , fordy


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## Felicity (Dec 19, 2010)

Have you received any smaller kitchen
appliances recently?

I got a new Crockpot for Christmas, and
it says in the book:

During initial use of this appliance, some slight
smoke and/or odor may be detected. This is
normal with many heating appliances and will 
not recur after a few uses.


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## shannsmom (Jul 28, 2009)

A couple of years ago, I worked with a girl who smelled something burning for a couple of months, nobody else did. She finally went to the doctor because it was driving her nuts, and he said that it can be a sign of polyps or tumors in the sinuses. She got scanned and nothing was found. After a while the smell just went away, she never did figure it out. Glad you figured out what yours was, and that it was something simple


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## Kwings (Dec 21, 2010)

When i lived with my mom one day i woke up and sleepily thought i smelled smoke, almost went back to sleep when it hit me "Hey! Somethings on fire!" So i woke up and woke my mom and grandma up, checked the whole house inside and out and everything was fine, but it turned out the house down the hill from ours was on fire and the wind was blowing the smoke right at our house.

I almost dismissed and went back to sleep but i'm glad i didn't, It could have just as easily been our place on fire!


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## giraffe_baby (Oct 15, 2005)

I've done the same thing for weeks!!! only smelled it in the kitchen....hubby has learned that I have super sonic nose lol....we found it finally...two wires touching under a wire cap...the caps were fried( under kitchen on sump pump plug). all fixed now


on the other hand I can walk in the house after being outside and smell dog poo or anything outta sync lol kids hate it...walk in and I say time to clean up dog mess......then they have to go find it lol


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

i've been smelling brimstone all morning. dont anybody even hazzard a guess as to what that means. i dont want to know. ~Georgia.


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## DaveNay (Nov 25, 2012)

I have known people who live in a house that was "repaired" after a fire and they say that on certain days...certain humidity...certain wind, they can still smell the smoke. It's impossible to get everything perfectly clean.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Women have a better sense of smell than men. So even if he can't smell it, that doesn't mean it wasn't there. Things like that bother me too. I walk around complaining of something smelling hot while DH cannot smell anything wrong. It is always calming when you finally find the source of the odor. I can smell people a quarter mile away burning trash while he cannot.


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## ginnie5 (Jul 15, 2003)

made sure their window was closed last night and no smell! We also did just replace the blower on the woodstove so that may have had a lot to do with it. I had checked it and checked it and it wasn't hot. But it makes sense to me that the smell would go up the chimney. And that's honestly what it smelled like to me.


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## iloveafarmer (Feb 23, 2008)

I have migraines and part of the aura before one hits is smelling a smokey smell. Over the years I've been able to tell the difference between real smoke and migraine aura but I used to go all over the house looking for problems.


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