One of the biggest factors of being comfortable in your home is being okay with how it smells. After all, you don't want your home to smell bad. Not only can an odor be unpleasant to live with, but it can be hazardous to your health.

Plus, if your home has an odor, it can be pretty embarrassing to have a friend or family member over and have any putrid smells lingering around. If you're smelling nything questionable, start looking around. Here are four areas of your home that you should check as you hunt down the source of the odor.

The Kitchen Fridge

If you're not in the habit of cleaning out your fridge on a regular basis, then you should start with the fridge. Most fridges need to be cleaned on at least a bi-monthly basis. According to WikiHow, you should take everything out and clean out the inside of the fridge with a mixture of warm water and baking soda.

You should also throw out expired food and don't let leftovers sit in the fridge forever. Throwing away old food is especially important if you tend to have foods that naturally have a strong smell to them-like fish, certain cheeses and tofu.

Behind the Appliances & In the Chimney

One of the worst smells that you can possibly encounter is the smell of something dying. If you live in an older home, you should watch for this smell, as it usually means you may have a dead rodent laying around.

As you check behind the appliances in your home (fridge, stove and other such items), be careful. If you do end up finding a rat or other pest, you don't want to touch it. Instead, use a shovel to pick up the creature and then place it in a double layer of plastic garbage bags. Then, you're going to want to disinfect the shovel and the area where the pest was found.

Everywhere for Mold Growth

If you've been smelling a musty odor, then it's probably due to mold. To know for sure, use your nose to find the location of the mold. Basically, you're looking for where the mold smell is the most intense. As you move around, you should be able to detect whether the smell is decreasing or increasing and then you'll find the source.

When you think of mold, you probably think of the colors green or black. However, it can be of any color: white, brown, orange, purple and even pink. Just keep an eye out for any colors that are different than the colors around it.

Once you find the mold, you can either throw whatever the mold was on out or clean it. If it's underneath the carpet or inside the walls, you might need a professional's help.

The Septic Tank

If you're getting a foul odor from your septic tank, you'll definitely know it. Without going into too much detail, your home will smell like the waste that's usually stored in the septic tank. This can happen when drains get clogged, the plumbing pipes freeze up, or when the tank gets too full.

To help keep septic tanks from filling up, you're supposed to have the tank pumped out every three to five years. However, that time period completely depends on how many people are living in your home. Contact Upstate Septic Tank, LLC to find out all that you need to know about your septic tank and see whether or not it needs to be pumped out.

Remember that some problems are serious and you shouldn't hesitate to call in a professional when necessary.