electrical burning smell from heater vents?

[DreSpark]

If the smell seems more than your yearly burn off look around the airs intake vent where it draws air in from. If the unit itself has no odor then the blower or somewhere it pulls air from might be giving this smell. I agree that yearly burn off can make a strong argument for burning wires. I have yet to get used to it every year and still look through out my house anually lol.

 

[mvbrda]

There is an electrical type burnings smell coming from the heater vents right when the gas heater came on. There is no smell at the furnace. the smell went away when the heater was turned off. We took the cover off the heater and looked inside and still no smell. It is a "Standard" gas heating furnace.
It is not the yearly burn off. We have used the heater already a few times and it is definitely a different smell. It smells the same as my frig did when the motor burnt out. There is no smell from the unit itself so we can't locate the source.

 

[TeVance]

In a standard "gas" forced air furnace,
while it is off in the summertime,
or even in use, in a cooling system,
it is common for dust to settle on the internal parts of the furnace.
At the time you first start it up in the fall,
you might smell the dust "burning" away.
This smell should go away after only a few minutes.
It kind of smells like "before a rain storm in the desert".
Don't worry.
Keep a eye on it and if all is not working properly,
call in a service tech and have the unit serviced.
You should be fine.
The smell should be totally gone in a day or so.