Rinnai heated hot water radiant concrete slab smells like dirty socks

RobG

You said it's a college town. Do you know what pot smells like? Perhaps both tenants smoked?

ldh312

Tho it has been a while, I think I would recognize the smell of pot. It will be legal here soon, so I will have to remind myself:)

Both tenants were adults and I don't think either smoked. I just finished a load of laundry and no smell. The floor heat is set up high and as soon as the dryer is done, I am going to turn on the gas fireplace.

There is under counter lighting down there that is affixed to inexpensive cabinets. It is now my prime suspect. It is just weird that it was fine for 10+ years, tho maybe no one ever left it on all the time before this.

RobG

RobG said:

You said it's a college town. Do you know what pot smells like? Perhaps both tenants smoked?

The stuff they grow now is called skunk weed? Since the tenant has left and the smell has dissipated maybe the tenant just had dirty laundry around. When I wrestled in high school the guy that I usually got paired up with because of weight class would never bring his gym clothes home for cleaning, he would just toss them back in the locker everyday. You want to talk about dirty, stink smell. Maybe your tenants worked out and didn't wash their clothes often. That would explain why they didn't complain.

ldh312

I called the tenant to ask about the under counter lights. She told me that she left them on all the time. I am pretty sure it was the lights. Unfortunately, I already bought $300 of concrete sealer. Anyone need any?

Also, since my contractor set time aside for me, I am going to go ahead and have him reconstruct the laundry area, so that we can get back there to clean in the future. It is probably an unnecessary expense, since I would like to sell the house, but he works for me a lot, and I would not feel right about cancelling entirely.

JUGHNE

Under cabinet light really trap the heat because of the way they are mounted tight to the wood. It you leave them on a few hours and feel inside the cabinet just above the lights you can see how hot they get. That heat could cause outgassing of the pressed wood materials & glue in the cabinets.

There are LED replacements that are a little spendy for tenants.
But replacement fluorescent fixtures that contain electronic ballasts for the T-5 bulbs would run cooler than old magnetic type ballasts which you might have. Also when installing under cabinet fixtures if fender washers are used for spacers then there is an air gap allowing heat dissipation.

ldh312

Thanks for the input. I will probably spend the money to get LED and try to find ones that are not mounted so tight against the cabinets. I feel so relieved to have the problem identified, that I don't mind spending the money to fix it. Thank you all for your input. This is a great forum. I do taxes for a living and would welcome the opportunity to return the favor.

Tim Potter

For what its worth, this is how I converted my Hot Bulb under counter lights to LED, works slick,

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-418392-20-Watt-AccentLED-Cabinet/dp/B006LW9CWI

Good Luck,

Tim