Your air conditioner is in charge of cooling, but it has a partner in crime: your thermostat. You set the temperature and change it from time to time, and if your thermostat doesn’t send the right signals to the air conditioner, you don’t get the cooling you need.
With HVAC in Philadelphia, air conditioning problems aren’t exactly uncommon, but we usually don’t think of the thermostat’s role in how these problems could be perceived. Let’s take a look now.
First Let’s Break Down How it Works
Your thermostat reads the temperature of the room, and your air conditioner doesn’t. The thermostat compares the temperature you want with the one you’ve got, and sends a simple “on” or “off” signal to the air conditioner.
When your AC receives the signal, it turns on and blows cool air to lower the temperature as quickly as possible. Then your thermostat realizes the room temperature is aligned with the desired temperature, and sends an off signal, then goes back to idly monitoring the temperature for the next cycle.
Feel the Vents for Cool Air
If you put your hands over the vents, and you feel warm air or room temperature air coming out, go and verify with the thermostat that it’s set to cooling and not heating. Just to be safe.
If it is in fact set to cooling, and there’s no cool air coming out, it’s the air conditioner. The thermostat is sending the right signal, but the AC isn’t responding properly. Try replacing your AC filter before you call for repair, but if that doesn’t do anything, it’s time to make the call.
There’s Cool Air, But the AC Keeps Shutting Off Early
When this happens, there’s a possibility that it could either be the thermostat or the air conditioner. Let’s help you find out which one it is.
- Your thermostat is simply miscalibrated. Your thermostat reads the temperature, but if it’s not calibrated properly, it will read it incorrectly. Usually just within a few degrees, but when you need cool air as relief, you feel the difference. If it’s miscalibrated, it could read the room incorrectly, send the wrong signals to the AC, and make it appear that the AC is broken when it’s not.
- Your air conditioner could be short-cycling. This is when your AC turns on for one cycle to cool your home, but it shuts down before it’s told to by the thermostat. This is often caused by broken or damaged components in an air conditioner, so it may not be your thermostat’s fault in this case.
Your Thermostat Just Isn’t Working at All
You turn your thermostat on, but it powers down within a few seconds. This happens because there isn’t sufficient power to operate it. If it’s hardwired into the wall, that means it receives power from your home’s electrical system. If it’s not receiving sufficient power, that’s a problem with the thermostat.
But if it can be detached from the wall, it means that it’s powered by a battery. The whole module will come off without any wires connecting it anywhere else. This is a wireless thermostat, and if the battery in the back is starting to die, it could be the problem. It’s hard to remember to change these batteries every few years, so it’s often forgotten.
Let’s Take Care of Your AC and Thermostat for You
Whether it’s a simple miscalibration error, or you need a new thermostat, we’re there for you. Whatever the issue is with your AC, our technicians will figure it out and get things sorted as soon as possible.
Contact Synergy3 today to schedule your air conditioning system repair or thermostat repair as soon as possible.