5 Ways to Tell if Your Home's Thermostat is Malfunctioning
One: Problems with the Thermostat’s Wires
A standard or programmable thermostat can develop wiring problems and begin to misread the temperatures in your home. Unfortunately, many Boonton homeowners are unaware of this, which may cause over or under spending on electricity. These repairs undoubtedly require professional diagnostics to determine if the device is repairable or requires a total replacement.
In many cases, a thermostat repair is simple, fast and affordable, and a technician is able to look at this device on a routine or emergency service call. A wiring problem is found by turning off a standard thermostat’s power or removing the batteries from a programmable unit. To turn off the power to a thermostat, a Boonton homeowner or technician must find the fuse box.
In some cases, the wires inside the thermostat are loose or degraded, and a technician is often able to replace the wires to avoid buying a new thermostat for a home. If the wires are not connecting properly, our technician understands how to tighten loose screws to secure the wires correctly. Working with electricity and wires is often dangerous, and it is better to contact an expert than attempt this repair. The items needed for this repair include:
• Blueprint of a home to find the breaker or fuse box
• Different sizes and styles of screwdrivers
• New wires
Two: No Power is reaching the Thermostat
A power outage can lead to a nonfunctional thermostat, but this is a simple problem to diagnose and correct. A homeowner can locate a home’s breaker box to turn off a home’s power and turn it back on. Make sure to wait at least 10 minutes before turning the breaker box back on to give the system a chance to adjust.
Alternatively, if a home has a fuse box, then it is essential to find the fuse that controls the thermostat to remove the fuse and replace it with a new one. Fuse or breaker boxes are often located in utility or hallway closets, but in larger or older homes, the boxes are frequently inside cellars or basements.
Use caution when turning off breaker boxes or changing fuses because it is possible to receive an electrical shock from a damaged system. When a homeowner isn’t sure how to fix fuses or flip breaker switches, it is a good idea to contact our heating and cooling company for assistance. Homeowners should keep a supply of extra fuses to complete this repair.
Three: Does the Programmable Thermostat Need New Batteries?
A programmable thermostat works with batteries, and if the batteries are corroded or low on power, then the thermostat will not operate correctly. By checking the low-power indicator light on a thermostat, a homeowner should know when to change its batteries. A homeowner should keep an extra supply of batteries to replace the items during inclement weather to avoid needing to go to a store.
If a homeowner does not have extra batteries available, then remove the current batteries to clean the battery compartment before putting the old battery back into the thermostat. This method will sometimes get the device working again for a few hours to provide climate-controlled air to a home until it is possible to go to a store to buy new batteries.
Four: Problems with the Thermostat’s Anticipator
Anticipators are an important part of a thermostat’s mechanisms, and a defect of this component leads to a furnace or air conditioner that turns on and off constantly. Homeowners can adjust an anticipator or hire one of our technicians to perform a thermostat repair on this item. A technician will have the schematics necessary for fixing an air conditioner or furnace and is able to locate the thermostat's anticipator.
With a specialized diagnostic tool, our company’s cooling and heating technicians can determine if an anticipator is repairable or if the part requires replacement. After this device is installed or repaired, a technician can adjust it correctly to ensure a furnace or air conditioner turns on when it is needed. As part of an air conditioner or furnace inspection, our company always has technicians check all of the components of the heating or cooling device to make sure it is working optimally.
Five: Fixing a Dirty Thermostat
Our heating and cooling technicians may notice that a home’s thermostat is covered with sticky debris or layers of dirt. When a thermostat is located in a high-traffic area of a home such as an entranceway or kitchen, it is easy for it to become dirty. The dirt that is on a thermostat can enter the device to prevent mechanisms from working correctly. Not only is the thermostat unable to keep a home at a correct temperature, but also, it may not turn on at all.
When a thermostat is extremely dirty, it requires careful cleaning to remove the buildup of debris. A can of compressed air that is available in the electronics’ section of a store is useful for blowing debris from the thermostat’s components.
Alternatively, a tiny paintbrush is also helpful for removing dirt from the tiny spaces inside a thermostat. To prevent a collection of debris on a thermostat, add it to the list of things to clean regularly in your Boonton home.
For quality thermostat repair in Boonton, NJ, call K. Hoeler Plumbing & Heating at (973) 882-2803.
