You probably already know that your thermostat signals when your air conditioner needs to turn on and off for cooling. But did you know that the cooling mechanism is controlled by a sensor? If the signaling sensor on your thermostat or the receiving sensor inside of your air conditioner is not working properly, then your thermostat cannot communicate with your AC to turn on a cooling cycle.
The good news is, when this happens it’s usually an easy fix. You can schedule AC repair in Wentzville, MO, with our team, and get your air conditioner working great again. In the meantime, you can keep reading to learn more about the sensor and why it may stop working.
How the Thermostat Works
Your thermostat has a sensor that measures the indoor air temperature of your home. When it gets too warm, it sends a signal to your air conditioner to turn on for a cooling cycle. Your air conditioner then turns on and cools your home until the thermostat signals that the indoor air temperature is cool enough so that your air conditioner can cycle back off again. These two systems work together to run cooling cycles in 15 to 20-minute increments.
It’s possible that you could have a problem with the sensor on your thermostat or the sensor inside of your air conditioner. If the sensor on your thermostat is the problem, it may not signal correctly for your air conditioner to turn on and off. If the sensor inside of your air conditioner that receives the signal is broken, your air conditioner may never turn on for cooling cycles when your thermostat signals that it is time.
Troubleshooting the Sensor
You can take steps to troubleshoot the thermostat sensor. If that doesn’t work, you’ll have to give our team a call to fix the sensor inside of your air conditioner. You could probably find a tutorial online for doing it yourself, but we strongly recommend against it. There’s always a chance that you could do more harm than good and still need to call our team anyway.
When it comes to troubleshooting your thermostat, first you want to check all of the thermostat settings and make sure they are correct. Your thermostat should be set to cooling, and the temperature should be lower than the current indoor air temperature is. If the settings are correct, you can open your thermostat to look at the mechanisms inside.
There’s a chance that dust and dirt are interfering with the signal being able to accurately measure the temperature. You can use a small, soft bristle brush to gently wipe away dirt that is inside the thermostat. Make sure you don’t brush too hard or you may cause additional problems inside of your thermostat.
If this doesn’t work, your thermostat may be miscalibrated. This is something else that our team can look at when we visit your home for a service appointment. First, we will continue troubleshooting your thermostat, and then we will check the sensor inside of your air conditioner. If we can adjust the sensors, we will. If not, the sensors are easy to replace and get your air conditioner working as usual again.
Warm People, Cool Ideas, Quality Solutions. Give our team at Swiss Air Heating & Cooling, LLC a call today to schedule an appointment for AC service.
