5 Ways to Tell if Your Home’s Thermostat is Malfunctioning

If your home’s thermostat is malfunctioning, the first thing you may notice is that the temperature of your home is too hot or too cold. This may not indicate a problem with the thermostat, but it could.

Thermostat repair and replacement are easy jobs for Kansas City professionals. However, first you should check to see if the thermostat is malfunctioning. The problem could lie somewhere else in the heating or cooling system. There are a few ways to check your thermostat to see if it is the cause of the problem you are having.

1. Check to See That it is Turned On

This is the most obvious step, but sometimes the power switch to a programmable thermostat has been accidentally flipped off. This could have happened when someone was programming the thermostat and pressed the power button by mistake.

Also, in certain types of thermostats, the power switch has an appearance similar to a light switch. This switch will turn off the air conditioning unit, the heating unit and the thermostat. Make sure this switch is turned on. If the power to the thermostat is on and it still isn’t functioning properly, it might need to be repaired.

2. Change the Temperature Setting

You can test the responsiveness of your thermostat by changing the temperature setting. Move the temperature up or down by 5 degrees to see if either the cooling system or the heating system turns on. If this triggers the heating or cooling to come on, that means your thermostat is responsive and probably functioning properly. It might be more accurate if you do the following.

If it is winter, you should test the responsiveness by moving the temperature up by 5 degrees to see if the thermostat will increase the heat. If it is summertime, move the temperature setting down by 5 degrees. You can tell your thermostat is working it the temperature starts to drop.

If nothing changes when you make these adjustments, the problem probably lies with the thermostat.

3. Check the Batteries in a Digital Thermostat

If your thermostat is a digital one and the display panel lights are off, there could be a problem with the batteries. When battery power is low, there may also be a message stating this on the display. If the batteries are dead and there is nothing on the display panel, this could cause the heating and cooling systems to turn off as well.

Your thermostat could be battery powered and not just using a battery as a backup. Follow the instructions that came with your thermostat to replace the battery. If the battery is working, but the thermostat is behaving erratically, it could be that you have installed alkaline batteries instead of lithium batteries. Make sure you have the right type of battery for your device.

If replacing the batteries doesn’t fix the problem, the thermostat is probably malfunctioning.

4. Check the Location of Your Thermostat

Is the thermostat located in an area that affects its temperature reading? If it is located in a drafty area next to a door or window, the temperature reading it takes could be too low, which would cause it to make the house too warm.

If the thermostat is located next to a lamp, electronic equipment or other heat source, this could cause it to read the temperature of the room as higher than it actually is. This could cause it to turn on the air conditioning when it is already too cold. In this case, the thermostat is malfunctioning because of an improper location.

A professional can move the thermostat to another wall where the temperature measurements for the room are likely to be more accurate.

5. Does your programmable thermostat lose its program?

If you have a digital thermostat and it frequently loses the temperature settings you have programmed into it, it’s possible it may need to be replaced.

Some thermostats use power from a heat source or air conditioner. This means that whenever your Kansas City home loses power, the thermostat loses its programming. This is only a problem if the home loses power frequently.

Newer thermostats can be powered by batteries or at least have a battery backup in place to help maintain the programming. If your thermostat frequently loses its temperature settings, you may want to look into having a new thermostat installed that has a battery backup or is battery powered.

There are many things a professional can do to fix a malfunctioning thermostat. It could be a problem with the wiring that is easily repaired. There could also be a problem with the anticipator in a mechanical thermostat. This sometimes needs to be reset so it corresponds to temperature settings correctly.

It’s also possible that the thermostat simply needs to be relocated to a better space on the wall. It may be time to upgrade your old thermostat to a newer model that is easily programmable and has a proper battery backup to save the program in case of a power outage.

For thermostat repair or replacement services in Kansas City, KS, call KB Complete Plumbing Heating and Cooling Inc. at [hls_phone_number]