Strange house smell

El_robbo1980 · 15-06-2021 08:13AM

ParkRunner wrote: »

Have you just one bathroom in the house, upstairs? Are the outside bins nearby?

Outside bins aren’t near and don’t really smell (for bins)

There’s a downstairs bathroom also although again I had a look in those drains and all fine. If it was that kinda sulphur/egg smell I’d be thinking of drains but it’s definitely different?

El_robbo1980 · 15-06-2021 08:14AM

Stigura wrote: »

El Robbo; Have you a 'Fishing Tackle' shop within reach?

I Don't mean it could have anything to do with such a place. Just an old rat catchers trick. Might be a step in the process of elimination

I can certainly get to one? What’s the trick?

I was half thinking maybe a fox decided to mark its territory near the door as I’ve heard fox urine can have quite a “weedy” smell that lasts for ages

Ninthlife · 15-06-2021 08:18AM

El_robbo1980 wrote: »

I can certainly get to one? What’s the trick?

I was half thinking maybe a fox decided to mark its territory near the door as I’ve heard fox urine can have quite a “weedy” smell that lasts for ages

Stay up all night sitting in that area and see when the smell begins to appear, try see if there are any noises or activity at the same time

CoBo55 · 15-06-2021 08:30AM

I'd concentrate on where the new meter is, it seemed to start after that. I wonder did a mouse get down into the cavity around one of the cables?

chooseusername · 15-06-2021 09:03AM

El_robbo1980 wrote: »

No I don’t think it’s that. House is two years old, all fittings fairly new. Smell is worse in the morning when all lights have been off all night

In saying that, the ESB did install a new smart meter on the outside wall near where the smell seems to eminate from

Meter installers may have compromised a v.c.l. behind the insulated plasterboard.

Alun · 15-06-2021 10:21AM

chooseusername wrote: »

Meter installers may have compromised a v.c.l. behind the insulated plasterboard.

He said his house is only two years old, so fitting a new smart meter would have simply involved unscrewing the old one and installing a new one onto the backboard in the existing meter box. It's hard to see how anything would have been damaged doing that.

However, it might be worthwhile opening the meter box and having a good sniff inside. It's always difficult describing smells, but if it is a burning smell, there's a possibility the terminals on the new meter weren't tightened correctly causing arcing. I read that there were several cases of this happening in the UK smart meter rollout, some even causing fires.

CoBo55 · 15-06-2021 11:16AM

Alun wrote: »

He said his house is only two years old, so fitting a new smart meter would have simply involved unscrewing the old one and installing a new one onto the backboard in the existing meter box. It's hard to see how anything would have been damaged doing that.

However, it might be worthwhile opening the meter box and having a good sniff inside. It's always difficult describing smells, but if it is a burning smell, there's a possibility the terminals on the new meter weren't tightened correctly causing arcing. I read that there were several cases of this happening in the UK smart meter rollout, some even causing fires.

That's a very good suggestion. Something similar happened to a former boss of mine, he noticed a strange smell when the oven was on it was in the hall/porch area. Eventually the power went the connection was burned away completely at the big ESB fuse. He was very lucky as the house could have easily been burned down.

El_robbo1980 · 15-06-2021 01:03PM

I’ll definitely have a look at that, many thanks for the suggestion

Cyloncity · 20-06-2021 09:17PM

Could any of the sockets or fixtures be made of bakelite? They are known to give of a fishy smell if they overheat and overtime?

Esel · 20-06-2021 11:09PM

Cyloncity wrote: »

Could any of the sockets or fixtures be made of bakelite? They are known to give of a fishy smell if they overheat and overtime?

Often a lampholder with an old-style bulb that generates a fair bit of local heat.

Strange house smell

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