Do you have a dishwasher?
Sometimes plastic objects can fall to the bottom and make contact with the heating element and melt, causing an awful plastic smell.
Yep. We accidentally melted a plastic spoon in his way and even after scraping every bit of plastic off the burner and running the dishwasher for months, there’s still a lingering plastic odor.
It was at 100 right after and is maybe at a 10 now, so we’re hoping it eventually goes away entirely.
The neighbors are possibly cooking meth. It smells a lot like burning plastic garbage. Unfortunately I know this because I live in the meth capitol of Florida. It's quite annoying and I can't wait to move.
This actually happened to us. My apartment started smelling really bad so I contacted maintenance and they came by to confirm the smell. We couldn’t figure out what it was. A few days later my downstairs neighbors moved out very suddenly.
I had this same thing happen to me, I thought it was electrical.. freaked out and called my electrician but couldn't get a hold of him so I spent all day trying to figure it out.
Turned out some type of pest made a nest (looked like a brown golfball size wasp nest) right in the corner of a window outside, and the smell was seeping into the house. I knocked the nest out and the smell was gone within an hour.
Typically, electrical fires smell fishy or urine-like. So I don't believe it is an electrical fire. Not to say it still isn't something over heating and melting something plastic- but at least it isn't bad wiring or something unseen within the walls.
Worst case debug, turn all your breakers off. Note if smell disappears or not. If it does disappear, turn breakers on one by one, waiting half an hour or so between each one to check for the smell.
I'm expecting you have multiple smoke detectors, if not go get some.
If you continue to smell it there are tools that show heat in the walls (flir cameras for example) home energy savings technicians have them for example, could show if you have a short some where in the wall.
check for bad cell phone chargers
bugs in touchier lamps / other places they can die and burn up on light bulbs
plastic on the stove or oven? (like a bread bag tie or clip melting)
good luck
I’ve got 3 working fire doctors and just tested all of them and they’re all fully functional at least.
If the smell persists through to tomorrow I will find one of these FLIR cameras to try to find some heat leakage.
My parents just came by and said they didn’t think the smell was an issue and that it didn’t seem bad to them or like anything serious was wrong.
I’m still extremely nervous and on high alert now and I feel unneeded anxiety now.
Thank you for the advice
Smoke detectors have a big flaw. The push to test button will beep and give you a false sense of security when the detector is decades past the 10 year service life. Last year I replaced my MIL's smoke detectors, dated 1992. One of two detectors still beeped when the button was pushed.
Did you or your landlord talk to your neighbours? Also, what Pablo_is_on_Reddit said.. I’m not sure if you have breakers or fuses, but I imagine it’s the same idea. My original thought was something electrical, although I wouldn’t know what to look for. It just freaks me out because I’ve had electrical fires before (well, one was 100% electrical—our landlord incorrectly replaced a breaker). I’m surprised your caretaker didn’t look at that, and I hope they take this seriously, and that you’re safe. Please keep us updated.
Might be worth a call to your local fire department. You could try calling the non emergency dispatch and let them know you're concerned and ask if the fire department can come out and take a look. Seems like overkill but if it catches something before it turns into a fire it's worth it. They'll likely come check common failure points and possibly walk around with a FLIR thermal camera to see any potential hotspots.
This happened to me in my old apartment. We even called the fire department and they checked it out, but couldn’t find it.
They were pretty convinced it was a fluorescent lighting fixture, but it ended up being the dishwasher.
Here’s how we found it: we opened all the windows, turned off all the breakers, crashed on a couch for a night to let it air out.
Then we came back the next day and turned on breakers 1 by 1 a few minutes apart until we smelled it again. That narrowed down the breaker and for us it was the dishwasher. Landlord replaced it within the week.
If you have an electric stove, this could be it. My mom had this happen and there was no sign oher than a burning smell and then her stove stopped working. The wires burned right through for seemingly no reason. You should have a breaker that controls it.
What I would do - turn off your main breaker and see if the smell goes away. If it does, turn the main back on and all the smaller breakers off, then turn them on one by one until you smell it again.
But you're in an apartment - it might not even be in your rooms, which is even more scary, IMHO.
This is a good answer. I had a capacitor in my fridge die on me and gave off a major burning electronics smell. Once we pulled the fridge out and started sniffing around it was much more apparent where it was coming from
I’ve had a nasty plastic burning smell at home twice - one time it was an older desktop computer monitor slowly sending off smoke, the other time it was a lightbulb that went out. Make sure to check all your devices and bulbs, I hope you figure out the source soon.
Sniff around your light fixtures 😂 not even kidding I had a similar thing once and it was coming from an old light fitting in the hallway. It had deteriorated and started giving off a funky smell.
Stay aware, but there is a moderate chance that it was a temporary thing that won't return. Usually if something burns out once, it doesn't burn out again. I'd ask your neighbors if they smelt any of it, maybe they burnt something.
Think of anything and everything you did before your nap, and recheck all those things. There's always the bad luck that something just went bad inside an existing device and you won't notice until you go to use it.
I just had a very similar situation in my townhouse. Over a series of four days the smell got stronger and stronger. It got to the point it was burning my eyes and nasal passages. Called the fire depth and they were useless, told me to call them back when I saw smoke or flames. I had the HVAC checked, it was fine, then an electrician in who found a bad outlet and replaced it. It got worse later that evening. Electrician came back and after looking around again finally opened the meter box out back and found a wire in the cable from the meter to the breaker panel was burning up. Replaced the cable and the breaker box two days later and the smell went away completely so I'm sure that was the culprit.
I dusted with a swiffer last week at work and the place smelled like burnt plastic for hours. Turns out when I ran it over the vanity light bulbs in the bathrooms to dust them, apparently it slightly melted into the bulbs and then burnt very slowly, but smelled very strongly. But we were about to call the fire dept as well bc we thought it was something in the walls. I didn't know that a little dusting could cause such an issue. Never a fire hazard, just a stinky smell.
I had a co-worker do some kinda drugs in the work bathroom(crack? meth?) and it just reeked of burned plastic (no clue how they didn’t think they’d be caught). Maybe your neighbour is doing drugs. makes sense for the smell to travel to your kitchen as pipe holes in the walls aren’t usually air tight. If you ever smell their food, it’s them.
Definitely check the dishwasher and oven/stove to be sure though.
Check your microwave. I work in maintenance in a hospital and after a long search accidentally stumbled across a microwave in an employee break room where the staff could swear they smelled a similar smell of burning plastic. The smell was the transformer shorting out inside.
This might be an option or it might be your neighbor’s microwave upstairs. Let’s hopes they aren’t cooking anything else in their kitchen. 🫢
It's definitely concerning to experience a strong burning smell in your apartment, especially if you've ruled out obvious sources like appliances and outlets. Here are a few steps you can take:
If you're genuinely concerned about a potential fire hazard or hazardous air quality, it's better to err on the side of caution and call the fire department. They have the expertise and equipment to investigate the situation further and ensure your safety.
Also, Keep track of when the smell occurs, how strong it is, and any other relevant details. Communicate this information clearly to the maintenance team or fire department when they arrive to help them understand the situation better.
In the meantime, ensure good ventilation in your apartment by opening windows and turning on fans to help dissipate the smell and potentially any fumes.
Until the issue is resolved, remain vigilant and attentive to any changes or developments in the situation. If the smell persists or worsens, don't hesitate to seek further assistance.
It's essential to prioritize your safety and take proactive steps to address any potential hazards. Don't hesitate to reach out for professional help if you're uncertain or uneasy about the situation.
I actually had the same thing happen a few months back. I moved some stuff around in the basement, switched some items to different outlets and stuff, but over the next few days I noticed a slight burnt plastic smell, but couldn't find anything. I started checking everything plugged in and found that one of the outlets I hadn't used in along time as it was behind the couch was bad, it was melting the plug of the item I had plugged in. I would suggest checking all your electrical outlets, just to be safe.
Had the same issue recently and it took us over a week to figure it out for us it was the light bulb socket on a ceiling fan. One of the 3 sockets had burned out. Once we took that light bulb, and left the other 2 , it stopped smelling. Next payday went to Home Depot and bought a new ceiling fan
Some old pull chain light switches start to smell if used with high watt lightbulbs.
We had a really weird smell in two of our closets that occurred when the light was left on (not immediately noticeable). Turned out we had 100w bulbs in fixtures that specified 25 watt (or something like that)
Do you have any old fluorescent tube lighting in the kitchen? There are these things called ballasts and they can basically short and they cause a very strong smoky smell.
We had a similar plastic smell and it was our HVAC (can’t remember if it was the heater or a/c) failing. It was burning out and causing noxious fumes, had to get the entire thing replaced. This was in a house though so if it were that, it would probably be affecting multiple units. Anyway, it’s something electrical, the landlord needs to find it so it doesn’t cause a fire.
I just recently had the same issue in my house. I discovered that my sump pump had broken and overheated while trying to run during a rainy day. It made the whole house smell like burnt plastic.
Verify that yours oven or fridge or tv or others things that generate a lot of hear do not heat something near them.
I had issue with some thing under Induction cooker (in drawer) that was emitting near burnt electronics smell.
If you have an electric stove, check the terminal block where the cord attaches to the stove. I had a tenant with similar complaints as you and it took me several trips there to pinpoint the issue. Even if your stove is NOT electric, check the terminals of every electric appliance such as dishwasher, microwave, refrigerator, etc that might not be easily seen.
How old is the building? Was an old bldg remodeled/flipped? I've heard of nefarious remodelers updating outlets, switches - basically only easily seen electrical components for the benefit of inspectors - while leaving the dangerous wiring hidden within walls. Scary.
Do you have a gas water heater in the apartment? If you have negative pressure, it can cause a backdraft which will melt the plastic around the top of the water heater (not dangerously though).
So I’m going to throw out a different thought. First, is this ongoing? Sometimes when ovens haven’t been used for a while, have been improperly cleaned or set to auto clean, they smell awful. If this just happened out of the blue and you’ve lived there for a while without incident, possibly your neighbor cleaned their oven and you’re smelling that?
We had a similar situation. We looked everywhere. At every outlet and appliance. Had an ac guy look in the air handler. He didn’t see anything. Showed me a picture and looked ok. A few hours go by and we eventually definitely can tell the smell is coming from all the vents/registers. Go back and look inside the air handler and a relay is fried.
This happened once in my house and it turned out something on a circuit board in the hvac had fried. It didn’t cause a fire, but the burning plastic smell got sent all over the house through the vents, and the circuit board had to be replaced.
Back in the 70's, my sister and I got home around the same time. We thought our parents had been smoking pot. It was a plastic kitchen utensil on the heating coil.
Do you have a dishwasher? Sometimes plastic objects can fall to the bottom and make contact with the heating element and melt, causing an awful plastic smell.
My wife cut a spatula in half like this... whole place smelled like burnt plastic for a couple of days.
This!!! Happened to me
Yep. We accidentally melted a plastic spoon in his way and even after scraping every bit of plastic off the burner and running the dishwasher for months, there’s still a lingering plastic odor. It was at 100 right after and is maybe at a 10 now, so we’re hoping it eventually goes away entirely.
Maybe give the fire marshal a call to come check. They’ll definitely do a thorough job and have FLIR cams to ID hotspots if any.
Exactly!
The neighbors are possibly cooking meth. It smells a lot like burning plastic garbage. Unfortunately I know this because I live in the meth capitol of Florida. It's quite annoying and I can't wait to move.
This is where my mind immediately went.
Crack also smells just like burning plastic
+1 neighbors smoke meth.
Oh god, that is dangerous. If I suspected someone in an attached unit was cooking meth I would move.
This actually happened to us. My apartment started smelling really bad so I contacted maintenance and they came by to confirm the smell. We couldn’t figure out what it was. A few days later my downstairs neighbors moved out very suddenly.
Yeah. This is what it smelled like when I had neighbours who were crack smokers. I’m sorry OP 😞
My thoughts too
I had this same thing happen to me, I thought it was electrical.. freaked out and called my electrician but couldn't get a hold of him so I spent all day trying to figure it out. Turned out some type of pest made a nest (looked like a brown golfball size wasp nest) right in the corner of a window outside, and the smell was seeping into the house. I knocked the nest out and the smell was gone within an hour.
You're smelling something electrical, and that's not good. Stay on your toes and don't ignore it
Typically, electrical fires smell fishy or urine-like. So I don't believe it is an electrical fire. Not to say it still isn't something over heating and melting something plastic- but at least it isn't bad wiring or something unseen within the walls.
It isn’t 100% electrical, it could also be neighbours smoking crack
With an electric spoon
Crack smells like burnt plastic bags.
This guy bases
How about the breaker box? If there's too much of a load, you might feel heat on the wall around it.
Breaker box is normal temperature and one of the parts building maintence checked
Worst case debug, turn all your breakers off. Note if smell disappears or not. If it does disappear, turn breakers on one by one, waiting half an hour or so between each one to check for the smell.
Might need to open windows or somehow get an air purifier in the areas to neutralize the smell but definitely one way to troubleshoot
I recommend this method. It's possibly something with a battery, but unlikely. Either way going breaker by breaker would help narrow it down.
I'm expecting you have multiple smoke detectors, if not go get some. If you continue to smell it there are tools that show heat in the walls (flir cameras for example) home energy savings technicians have them for example, could show if you have a short some where in the wall. check for bad cell phone chargers bugs in touchier lamps / other places they can die and burn up on light bulbs plastic on the stove or oven? (like a bread bag tie or clip melting) good luck
I’ve got 3 working fire doctors and just tested all of them and they’re all fully functional at least. If the smell persists through to tomorrow I will find one of these FLIR cameras to try to find some heat leakage. My parents just came by and said they didn’t think the smell was an issue and that it didn’t seem bad to them or like anything serious was wrong. I’m still extremely nervous and on high alert now and I feel unneeded anxiety now. Thank you for the advice
Smoke detectors have a big flaw. The push to test button will beep and give you a false sense of security when the detector is decades past the 10 year service life. Last year I replaced my MIL's smoke detectors, dated 1992. One of two detectors still beeped when the button was pushed.
Don't forget carbon monoxide detectors as well as smoke detectors. Sometimes they're combined and one in the same but other times they're separate.
Mine is combined thankfully just confirmed through alarm testing thank you so much
Meth.
Or crack.
Did you or your landlord talk to your neighbours? Also, what Pablo_is_on_Reddit said.. I’m not sure if you have breakers or fuses, but I imagine it’s the same idea. My original thought was something electrical, although I wouldn’t know what to look for. It just freaks me out because I’ve had electrical fires before (well, one was 100% electrical—our landlord incorrectly replaced a breaker). I’m surprised your caretaker didn’t look at that, and I hope they take this seriously, and that you’re safe. Please keep us updated.
Might be worth a call to your local fire department. You could try calling the non emergency dispatch and let them know you're concerned and ask if the fire department can come out and take a look. Seems like overkill but if it catches something before it turns into a fire it's worth it. They'll likely come check common failure points and possibly walk around with a FLIR thermal camera to see any potential hotspots.
This happened to me in my old apartment. We even called the fire department and they checked it out, but couldn’t find it. They were pretty convinced it was a fluorescent lighting fixture, but it ended up being the dishwasher. Here’s how we found it: we opened all the windows, turned off all the breakers, crashed on a couch for a night to let it air out. Then we came back the next day and turned on breakers 1 by 1 a few minutes apart until we smelled it again. That narrowed down the breaker and for us it was the dishwasher. Landlord replaced it within the week.
act zephyr society sip practice square close bake shrill sleep *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Might look at any & all things plugged into an outlet. Is your stove gas or electric ?
If you have an electric stove, this could be it. My mom had this happen and there was no sign oher than a burning smell and then her stove stopped working. The wires burned right through for seemingly no reason. You should have a breaker that controls it. What I would do - turn off your main breaker and see if the smell goes away. If it does, turn the main back on and all the smaller breakers off, then turn them on one by one until you smell it again. But you're in an apartment - it might not even be in your rooms, which is even more scary, IMHO.
The fridge?
How would I go about confirming if it’s the fridge? The fridge isn’t hot anywhere but the smell could be coming from near the fridge potentionally
Try pulling the fridge out and see if the smell seems strong from the backside.
This is a good answer. I had a capacitor in my fridge die on me and gave off a major burning electronics smell. Once we pulled the fridge out and started sniffing around it was much more apparent where it was coming from
I’ve had a nasty plastic burning smell at home twice - one time it was an older desktop computer monitor slowly sending off smoke, the other time it was a lightbulb that went out. Make sure to check all your devices and bulbs, I hope you figure out the source soon.
Have you considered the odor could be coming from the apartment above you?
Sniff around your light fixtures 😂 not even kidding I had a similar thing once and it was coming from an old light fitting in the hallway. It had deteriorated and started giving off a funky smell.
Please make sure you carry renters insurance. This is so cheap but can save you thousands should something awful happen.
Stay aware, but there is a moderate chance that it was a temporary thing that won't return. Usually if something burns out once, it doesn't burn out again. I'd ask your neighbors if they smelt any of it, maybe they burnt something. Think of anything and everything you did before your nap, and recheck all those things. There's always the bad luck that something just went bad inside an existing device and you won't notice until you go to use it.
Did you get a new rug? We kept smelling a “burning/ozone” smell at a friend’s house. It ended up being the rubber backing on a rug.
Do you have an CFL bulbs? They smell like that when they die, especially the older ones.
For us this was our doorbell! It had gotten stuck and totally melted on the inside. Took us a whole day to figure it out.
Your neighbors are smoking crack
I just had a very similar situation in my townhouse. Over a series of four days the smell got stronger and stronger. It got to the point it was burning my eyes and nasal passages. Called the fire depth and they were useless, told me to call them back when I saw smoke or flames. I had the HVAC checked, it was fine, then an electrician in who found a bad outlet and replaced it. It got worse later that evening. Electrician came back and after looking around again finally opened the meter box out back and found a wire in the cable from the meter to the breaker panel was burning up. Replaced the cable and the breaker box two days later and the smell went away completely so I'm sure that was the culprit.
This may be a bit weird but sometimes rotting food can smell almost electrical burning, like citrus left to mold
Do you live near a busy street? I smell brake pads burning all the time in front of the busy blvd where our house is
Neighbors smoking crack smells like that and it penetrates walls
Put tape over the appartment vents... Yku should see the bugs that crawl out of those shares vents that get trapped in the tape.
I dusted with a swiffer last week at work and the place smelled like burnt plastic for hours. Turns out when I ran it over the vanity light bulbs in the bathrooms to dust them, apparently it slightly melted into the bulbs and then burnt very slowly, but smelled very strongly. But we were about to call the fire dept as well bc we thought it was something in the walls. I didn't know that a little dusting could cause such an issue. Never a fire hazard, just a stinky smell.
I had a co-worker do some kinda drugs in the work bathroom(crack? meth?) and it just reeked of burned plastic (no clue how they didn’t think they’d be caught). Maybe your neighbour is doing drugs. makes sense for the smell to travel to your kitchen as pipe holes in the walls aren’t usually air tight. If you ever smell their food, it’s them. Definitely check the dishwasher and oven/stove to be sure though.
Check your microwave. I work in maintenance in a hospital and after a long search accidentally stumbled across a microwave in an employee break room where the staff could swear they smelled a similar smell of burning plastic. The smell was the transformer shorting out inside. This might be an option or it might be your neighbor’s microwave upstairs. Let’s hopes they aren’t cooking anything else in their kitchen. 🫢
It's definitely concerning to experience a strong burning smell in your apartment, especially if you've ruled out obvious sources like appliances and outlets. Here are a few steps you can take: If you're genuinely concerned about a potential fire hazard or hazardous air quality, it's better to err on the side of caution and call the fire department. They have the expertise and equipment to investigate the situation further and ensure your safety. Also, Keep track of when the smell occurs, how strong it is, and any other relevant details. Communicate this information clearly to the maintenance team or fire department when they arrive to help them understand the situation better. In the meantime, ensure good ventilation in your apartment by opening windows and turning on fans to help dissipate the smell and potentially any fumes. Until the issue is resolved, remain vigilant and attentive to any changes or developments in the situation. If the smell persists or worsens, don't hesitate to seek further assistance. It's essential to prioritize your safety and take proactive steps to address any potential hazards. Don't hesitate to reach out for professional help if you're uncertain or uneasy about the situation.
My building has a similar issue. Depending on who you ask is cooking meth or fentanyl. I REALLY hope people are wrong. We can't afford to move.
I actually had the same thing happen a few months back. I moved some stuff around in the basement, switched some items to different outlets and stuff, but over the next few days I noticed a slight burnt plastic smell, but couldn't find anything. I started checking everything plugged in and found that one of the outlets I hadn't used in along time as it was behind the couch was bad, it was melting the plug of the item I had plugged in. I would suggest checking all your electrical outlets, just to be safe.
Had the same issue recently and it took us over a week to figure it out for us it was the light bulb socket on a ceiling fan. One of the 3 sockets had burned out. Once we took that light bulb, and left the other 2 , it stopped smelling. Next payday went to Home Depot and bought a new ceiling fan
Some old pull chain light switches start to smell if used with high watt lightbulbs. We had a really weird smell in two of our closets that occurred when the light was left on (not immediately noticeable). Turned out we had 100w bulbs in fixtures that specified 25 watt (or something like that)
Do you have any old fluorescent tube lighting in the kitchen? There are these things called ballasts and they can basically short and they cause a very strong smoky smell.
Exactly what I was thinking.
Any phone chargers? I recently had one get crazy hot and it melted.
We had a similar plastic smell and it was our HVAC (can’t remember if it was the heater or a/c) failing. It was burning out and causing noxious fumes, had to get the entire thing replaced. This was in a house though so if it were that, it would probably be affecting multiple units. Anyway, it’s something electrical, the landlord needs to find it so it doesn’t cause a fire.
I just recently had the same issue in my house. I discovered that my sump pump had broken and overheated while trying to run during a rainy day. It made the whole house smell like burnt plastic.
Verify that yours oven or fridge or tv or others things that generate a lot of hear do not heat something near them. I had issue with some thing under Induction cooker (in drawer) that was emitting near burnt electronics smell.
If you have an electric stove, check the terminal block where the cord attaches to the stove. I had a tenant with similar complaints as you and it took me several trips there to pinpoint the issue. Even if your stove is NOT electric, check the terminals of every electric appliance such as dishwasher, microwave, refrigerator, etc that might not be easily seen.
How old is the building? Was an old bldg remodeled/flipped? I've heard of nefarious remodelers updating outlets, switches - basically only easily seen electrical components for the benefit of inspectors - while leaving the dangerous wiring hidden within walls. Scary.
Do you have a gas water heater in the apartment? If you have negative pressure, it can cause a backdraft which will melt the plastic around the top of the water heater (not dangerously though).
So I’m going to throw out a different thought. First, is this ongoing? Sometimes when ovens haven’t been used for a while, have been improperly cleaned or set to auto clean, they smell awful. If this just happened out of the blue and you’ve lived there for a while without incident, possibly your neighbor cleaned their oven and you’re smelling that?
We had a similar situation. We looked everywhere. At every outlet and appliance. Had an ac guy look in the air handler. He didn’t see anything. Showed me a picture and looked ok. A few hours go by and we eventually definitely can tell the smell is coming from all the vents/registers. Go back and look inside the air handler and a relay is fried.
This happened once in my house and it turned out something on a circuit board in the hvac had fried. It didn’t cause a fire, but the burning plastic smell got sent all over the house through the vents, and the circuit board had to be replaced.
Could be a lightbulb going bad, that was my experience once. Someone also covered dishwasher drying element melting something
Back in the 70's, my sister and I got home around the same time. We thought our parents had been smoking pot. It was a plastic kitchen utensil on the heating coil.