What to Check If Your A/C’s Not Working

What to Check If Your A/C’s Not Working

If your air conditioner isn’t working there are 3 things any homeowner should be able to check before calling for an A/C repair. Checking the thermostat, air filters, and breaker box can be a quick easy fix so you don’t need to have an HVAC technician out, saving you a service charge.

, it tells the unit to turn on and cool your home when the temperature goes above its set point. Check if your unit is set to

; that is the mode that automatically turns on your unit when the temperature goes above its set point. If your system is set to

then your units fan is just blowing air throughout your home, it’s not cooling, and that can solve your problem immediately. If your unit is on

briefly, if you notice your indoor fan working for your unit then at least you can tell the contractor who comes out that there is power to the unit. Last, if your thermostat is blank, check to see if there are

in it (some have power wired to the thermostat, it might not need batteries).

, filters all the air in your home before it’s cooled by your

. If they aren’t changed routinely

they can get so dirty that they restrict airflow. If restricted enough your evaporator coil won’t evaporate moisture on the coil and will freeze due to the cold temperature of the refrigerant in the coils. It can get so bad that your unit won’t have any airflow because of how much ice can build up on the evaporator coil. For a quick fix,

it, leave your unit off to allow for defrosting, then after a couple of hours turn the unit back on.

has switches that control the electric current to

of your house, in this case your

. If you have a split system the circuits are usually divided by the air handler and condenser and will be separately labeled. The breaker may have just flipped from too much current passing. Go to your breaker box, they are typically outside or in your garage, look for where it’s labeled for your

and if it’s in the off position flip it back on and your unit should work again. This can be a reoccurring problem where you might have to flip the breakers often, in that case, you should consider having someone out because it is only a temporary fix.