You may or may not have seen me talk about this before, but every once in a while, I try to go over those few little things that could help troubleshoot a malfunctioning air conditioner. Sometimes, this can help save you the hassle of calling in service. So, it has probably happened to most if not all of you at some point, but it usually begins with a trip to the thermostat. You push the temperature level down to get your a/c to kick in and walk away. A few minutes later, you notice that it’s not getting any cooler in your house.
Here is a short list of things that should be checked before you call for service:
- Check that the thermostat is set properly. I know that this may sound obvious, but we do receive calls about it. Make sure to set the desired temperature five degrees below the thermometer reading and that the control is set for what you want to happen.
- If you’ve determined that the thermostat is set properly, then the second thing to do is to check if the humidistat is set properly, if you have one. This can get a little more complicated. There are two different ways to set your humidistat depending on the way it was originally installed. If you’re unsure, please check with your service provider or call me and I will be happy to help. Note: not all systems have a humidistat, but they should.
- The third item to check is the breaker. There should be two breakers on most systems, one for the outside unit and one for the inside unit. Breakers can appear to be intact but can still be tripped. You need to flip them over and flip them back to ensure that they are making contact.
One you’ve completed each step, wait a couple of minutes, there can be timers that need to expire before a new process can begin. So, even after you’ve followed all these steps your system still doesn’t respond, call your service provider for service.
As always, thanks for reading,
Bryan
Bryan Hayes, along with his brother Todd, is a co-owner of a Sanibel Air Conditioning company on Sanibel, FL. They also own and operate an island-based electrical service company Sanctuary Island Electric, Inc. Bryan can be reached at Bryan@Sanibelair.com
