Ways To Tell If Your Thermostat Is Bad

If it is really hot outside and your central AC does not seem to be cooling your home at all, you will probably instantly assume the system is broken. While this can be the case in some situations, there is also a chance the system is actually fine. The problem might be with the thermostat you have in your home, and here are several ways you might be able to tell if this is what is preventing your AC from working properly.

Crank it up

One of the first things you should try is cranking up your thermostat to see if anything happens. For example, if your thermostat is set to 72 degrees and it is 80 degrees in your home, turn it down to 60 degrees to see if this helps the system turn on. If so, this could indicate the thermostat is really far off.

In addition, you could try turning the heat on to see if you can get the furnace to kick on. If the furnace will only kick on when you turn it to 90 degrees, you can know for certain that the problem lies within the thermostat.

If neither the AC system nor the furnace will turn on when you change the settings on the device, you can be certain the thermostat has a problem.

Look inside the thermostat

Another thing you could do is look inside the thermostat, which will require prying the cover off. The main thing to look for inside is any loose wires that are not connected. If one of the wires inside the thermostat came loose, this could be the cause of the problem you are experiencing.

Change the batteries

Most thermostats have batteries in them. The batteries inside a thermostat typically last a very long time, yet they can eventually wear out. You can replace the batteries, if you would like, and then see if this makes a difference.

If you have a digital thermostat, you can also detect problems if the numbers or words are not lighting up or if you touch buttons and nothing happens.

If a thermostat is bad, an HVAC technician may be able to fix it. If not, he or she can replace it, which will then solve the problems you are having. To schedule an appointment for repair services, contact a professional HVAC company, such as Comfort Connection Heating and Cooling, today.