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Unexplained burning smells


chid

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:unsure2: I am having and have been having for some months now burning smell in our kitchen/dining area. It is not present all the time and seems to be worse at night time when we are sitting watching TV. My husband sits next to me - he cannot smell it. At times I could be elsewhere in the house - Hall, Bedroom, at the Computer. I have called my 'hubby' to where I am and he still cannot smell this 'burning'. It might last a second or it might linger for some time.

The smell is a 'burning' type smell (like cloth or rubbish). When these incidents occur both my husband and myself have gone outside our house and checked for this smell in the air flowing around and through our home, but there is never any smoke or smell to match what is permiating in the house.

This is distressing me (it is happening again at this moment). I can no longer sit in the loungeroom to watch TV with my husband as I become aggravated when this happens.

I am also afraid, as I have heard before that this could be a ghost!

Could I have some feedback please?

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:unsure2: I am having and have been having for some months now burning smell in our kitchen/dining area. It is not present all the time and seems to be worse at night time when we are sitting watching TV. My husband sits next to me - he cannot smell it. At times I could be elsewhere in the house - Hall, Bedroom, at the Computer. I have called my 'hubby' to where I am and he still cannot smell this 'burning'. It might last a second or it might linger for some time.

The smell is a 'burning' type smell (like cloth or rubbish). When these incidents occur both my husband and myself have gone outside our house and checked for this smell in the air flowing around and through our home, but there is never any smoke or smell to match what is permiating in the house.

This is distressing me (it is happening again at this moment). I can no longer sit in the loungeroom to watch TV with my husband as I become aggravated when this happens.

I am also afraid, as I have heard before that this could be a ghost!

Could I have some feedback please?

Well first of all a lot of smells can stick with you depending what you've been cooking but i'm sure you're not a bad cook so that can't be it.. I some times smell things faintly like perfume and i don't know where it comes from.

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Well, of course there are a lot of ordinary explanations for what you're experiencing, but let's consider for a second that there IS perhaps a paranormal cause to the smell:

If it smells good, normally that would indicate that the spirit in question is benevolent. If it smells bad, it indicates that the spirit is malevolant. Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary, asides from that smell?

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I'm going to list 3 possible reasons that is from my experiences in life.

1) It could be your home or the land it's sitting on.

We lived in a house where many times I could smell smoke. My husband and son couldn't smell the smokey scent until one particularly wet spring and then they both smelled it too. The dampness brought the burnt smell out of the walls.

Then one day, my husband happened to be talking with a plumber that had known the original owners. The plumber told him about 'Mr. Elmer' being an alcoholic and had set the house on fire once back in the 60's... We lived there in the mid 80's... So, burned smells to hang around when trapped inside walls and attics.

2) It could be electrical.

The few times that I have smelled the particular smell that you describe, it has been because a cord or an outlet has a short in it.

3) "Do you ever smell burning odors?" was one of the questions asked by my Mom's doctor when he ran tests on her and discovered she had a brain tumor.

Mom survived the surgery and lived into her elder years .

4) I would have given you a 4th possibility but Rhyknow done covered the paranormal possibility...

----

:unsure2:

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I'm going to list 3 possible reasons that is from my experiences in life.

1) It could be your home or the land it's sitting on.

We lived in a house where many times I could smell smoke. My husband and son couldn't smell the smokey scent until one particularly wet spring and then they both smelled it too. The dampness brought the burnt smell out of the walls.

Then one day, my husband happened to be talking with a plumber that had known the original owners. The plumber told him about 'Mr. Elmer' being an alcoholic and had set the house on fire once back in the 60's... We lived there in the mid 80's... So, burned smells to hang around when trapped inside walls and attics.

2) It could be electrical.

The few times that I have smelled the particular smell that you describe, it has been because a cord or an outlet has a short in it.

3) "Do you ever smell burning odors?" was one of the questions asked by my Mom's doctor when he ran tests on her and discovered she had a brain tumor.

Mom survived the surgery and lived into her elder years .

4) I would have given you a 4th possibility but Rhyknow done covered the paranormal possibility...

----

:unsure2:

The above is an excellent post and mentions all the things I was about to mention save for one:

A few years ago I kept smelling a "cloth burning" smell over a period of a couple of weeks, but no one else in the family could smell it, even when it seemed very strong to me. My kids started teasingly saying I must have a brain tumour. The very real source of the smell was finally discovered, however, in the venting pipe in back of our dryer. Somehow a piece of popcicle stick got wedged in the elbow of the pipe, and dryer lint had become clogged around it causing the heat being exhausted to build up enough to ignite the stick and lint. It was slowly smoldering that entire time, and would have likely caused a bigger fire if we hadn't found it in time. I'm taken much more seriously now if I say I smell something burning.

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I'm borderline and sometimes my brain thinks it can smell burned skin, rotten tissue and stuff like that.

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two words....Emily Rose

It'd be nice if you could elaborate on what you mean by that. Remember not all of us have seen The Exorcism of Emily Rose :tu:

A few years ago I kept smelling a "cloth burning" smell over a period of a couple of weeks, but no one else in the family could smell it, even when it seemed very strong to me. My kids started teasingly saying I must have a brain tumour. The very real source of the smell was finally discovered, however, in the venting pipe in back of our dryer. Somehow a piece of popcicle stick got wedged in the elbow of the pipe, and dryer lint had become clogged around it causing the heat being exhausted to build up enough to ignite the stick and lint. It was slowly smoldering that entire time, and would have likely caused a bigger fire if we hadn't found it in time. I'm taken much more seriously now if I say I smell something burning.

This is a perfect example of how the explanation for such seemingly odd phenomena can be just the ordinary, every day happenings. Of course, don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that ALL odd smells come from an ordinary source, but the majority do. I feel now that we've entered a time when reports of paranormal activity is hightened, not because the amount of activity itself has hightened, but because people misinterpret things too easily

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:unsure2: I am having and have been having for some months now burning smell in our kitchen/dining area. It is not present all the time and seems to be worse at night time when we are sitting watching TV. My husband sits next to me - he cannot smell it. At times I could be elsewhere in the house - Hall, Bedroom, at the Computer. I have called my 'hubby' to where I am and he still cannot smell this 'burning'. It might last a second or it might linger for some time.

The smell is a 'burning' type smell (like cloth or rubbish). When these incidents occur both my husband and myself have gone outside our house and checked for this smell in the air flowing around and through our home, but there is never any smoke or smell to match what is permiating in the house.

This is distressing me (it is happening again at this moment). I can no longer sit in the loungeroom to watch TV with my husband as I become aggravated when this happens.

I am also afraid, as I have heard before that this could be a ghost!

Could I have some feedback please?

Ive been going thru something similar. I smell it at work, i smell it in our living room from time to time. yesterday my brother said he could smell something burning and i couldnt.

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It'd be nice if you could elaborate on what you mean by that. Remember not all of us have seen The Exorcism of Emily Rose :tu:

This is a perfect example of how the explanation for such seemingly odd phenomena can be just the ordinary, every day happenings. Of course, don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that ALL odd smells come from an ordinary source, but the majority do. I feel now that we've entered a time when reports of paranormal activity is hightened, not because the amount of activity itself has hightened, but because people misinterpret things too easily

On Emily Rose, they smelled something burning before the demons start possessing Emily. It was kinda like a sign.

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On Emily Rose, they smelled something burning before the demons start possessing Emily. It was kinda like a sign.

Ah I see...

Like I stated before, if the occurence is a genuine paranormal experience, smelling burning etc is a bad sign

Thanks for explaning

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If you're the only one smelling it and you can't find a source then I'd say go see a doctor if it's really bothering you. If nothing is wrong with you, then look for other explanations. It just seems to me like the most logical route at this point.

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My main worry is not the smelling the smoke but the fact that it agravates you so much you can't go about your normal daily bussiness. We can get used to and ignore smells if we know there is no problem. You may want to get a medical checkup as it could be misfiring synapses in your brain caused by whatever..... or yup you may have something in the house. I used to smell cigarete smoke after my wifes cousin died from time to time. Our TV used to switch itself on as well. He spent his life smoking and watching TV :D So spirits can make smells :D and watch TV :P

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I'm not one to try and scare anyone, but sometimes, those smells could be something that only wants just your attention. Look into the logical way first, make sure that you are alright health wise, then, if all is well there, then it is time to figure out what's going on elsewhere.

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Where has chid gone?

Do you smell this smell anywhere else out outside of the usual spots?

If it's paranormal then it doesn't have to mean it's bad......it could be a spirit or ghost that died in a fire or a fire burned on your land at some point which is coming through in residual energy.

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I agree with Not_Mikee. :tu:

There can be other medical conditions that cause this, including sinus infection (which may exibit no other outward symptoms), allergies, migraines (which don't have to be painful), and vasculitis. So I wouldn't worry too much about a tumor, it could be something simpler setting it off, though not all of these are fun, sinus infections seem to be a very common cause of the stinky smoke smell.

Barring that, you may just have a very good sense of smell. Watch your appliances and electric bill closely, and call an electrician if you are suspicious. We had a serious electrical fire when I was in high school so I'm wary of these things.

There are many knowledgeable people here that can help you out with the alternatives, if it comes to that.

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  • 5 years later...

I just experienced this myself. Googled ghosts & burning smell...and here I am. It smelt like something burning in the corner of the kitchen. I even pulled the wall scent out & smelt it. Nothing outside either. You're not the only one.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi, a personal question (which you certainly don't have to answer on this forum)... are you going through menopause at the moment or perhaps pregnant? Reason I ask is that when I was pregnant and my hormones were changing I smelt different smells at various times. Also when I was breastfeeding.

Any chance you can get another female to check it out when you smell it? Maybe the men in your life aren't quite as sensitive to it?

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Mvp is right is saying look for logical reasons first. If you have a fire place make sure the damper is closed also. Has there ever ben a fire in the house?

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i am diabetic so i go in to the Dr on a regular basis for checkups Once i just happened to mention that i was always smelling somethig burning. usuallly smelled like burnt dust but sometimes woodsmoke he started running tests on me that day and for more than two weeks after that, what he told me was that not always but sometimes smelling smoke when there isn't any is a side symptom of or precurser to having a mini stroke. Somehow it changes how the brian receives the information sent to it without actually killing off the brain cells receiving the information or some such.

i do not know if this is true but considering the cost to my insurance at the time i would suspect they believed it. they didn't even hesitate to pay for it. luckily or unluckily as the case may be they found nothing wrong with me that they didn't already know about

if your the only one smelling it go ask a Dr about it if not then disregard this

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unsure.gif I am having and have been having for some months now burning smell in our kitchen/dining area. It is not present all the time and seems to be worse at night time when we are sitting watching TV. My husband sits next to me - he cannot smell it. At times I could be elsewhere in the house - Hall, Bedroom, at the Computer. I have called my 'hubby' to where I am and he still cannot smell this 'burning'. It might last a second or it might linger for some time.

The smell is a 'burning' type smell (like cloth or rubbish). When these incidents occur both my husband and myself have gone outside our house and checked for this smell in the air flowing around and through our home, but there is never any smoke or smell to match what is permiating in the house.

This is distressing me (it is happening again at this moment). I can no longer sit in the loungeroom to watch TV with my husband as I become aggravated when this happens.

I am also afraid, as I have heard before that this could be a ghost!

Could I have some feedback please?

Are you certain that it was a burning like scent ? Did it maybe smell like sulfer? Sort of like if you stike a wooden match , that sulfer smell? Not really a burnt smell but something you can relate with fire?

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  • 1 year later...

Chid, I beleive you as I too have this problem. I'll try to explain what has happened and what I have done to try to eleminate the smell.

Having owned our house for 6 years now, we would on occasion sense what seemed like a wood fire smoke smell.

Last year it got worse. So I set out to locate where I thought it was coming from. My first thought was the furnace, but it was gas but has replaced the old oil furnace in 1999.

I'm thinking maybe the ducts have residue left from a damaged oil furnace so I have the ducts cleaned. No help. I then have the three chimney flues cleaned and sealed as they were not needed. Again, no help.

I remove the outer insulation from the ducts and replace it with new insulation. No help.

I then spray the insides of the ducts with odor elimainator chemicals. Not just one but a lot of different types.

I even installed UV lamps in the plentinum and then an Ozone generator that I use occasionaly when we are out of the house.

The smoke smell appears at different locations now as it did to begin with. The smell lasts from a minute to 10 minutes and is often strong.

It appears the we have a presence that is trying our patience.

Short of spending thousands of dollars to replace the ducts, I'm at a loss.

Problem is, the smell appears at any time, regardless of whether the heat or air is running.

During the fall season, we opened the house and ran the furnace fan with the windows and doors open to vent the system and house. I let the Ozone generator run full time while doing this.

The smell still appears and I do not know where to go with this.

Edited by SmokeSmell
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HI SmokeSmell,

Welcome to UM. Unfortunately, this is an old topic and the OP has not been on the board since the day he posted in April 2007 therefore unlikely to reply.

Closed.

Edited by Daughter of the Nine Moons
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