Why Preventive Maintenance Matters For Your HVAC

Various components of your HVAC system need to run efficiently for it to cool your Bay Area home or business. This includes the thermostat, which is the line of communication for your system. You should replace the thermostat as soon as it becomes faulty or you could be looking at a malfunctioning HVAC system. These are 7 signs that your HVAC thermostat is faulty.

1. Your Unit Keeps Turning On and Off

The thermostat is responsible for communicating with your HVAC unit. It sends signals for increasing or lowering the temperature. Its highly likely that your thermostat has a major issue if your HVAC no longer takes the thermostat prompts.

Wiring inside your thermostat could have become frayed or damaged. This can compromise the connection to the HVAC unit. You should hire an experienced HVAC professional for diagnosing the problem and fixing it.

2. Faulty Readings

Thermostat readings need to be absolutely accurate if you want your indoor space to have comfortable temperatures. Thermostats can register incorrect temperatures if they are faulty. You should consider replacing it in this case.

Test the reading of the thermostat against an indoor thermometer to verify whether it is showing correct temperature or not. Thermostat sensors may be malfunctioning if the readings are not accurate. This can be because the thermostat is defective, malfunctioning, or just old.

3. Sudden Increase in Energy Bills

All homeowners in California look for ways to lower their energy consumption in an effort to reduce utility bills and their carbon footprint. Inefficient thermostat and HVAC systems can make your energy bills rise through the roof.

Malfunctioning thermostats will cause your HVAC system to overwork. Your unit will consume more power if it cycles more frequently per hour. Your technician will assess the thermostat to let you know whether you need a new one or not.

4. Constant Shifts in Temperature

Faulty thermostats cannot maintain temperature settings. They may constantly change indoor temperature without any warning. You should try lowering the temperature setting as a test trial. Call a technician to look at the thermostat if the problem persists.

5. Old Thermostat

Thermostats will eventually become old and outdated as with all other components of your HVAC system. Most thermostats don’t last longer than 10 years. You may need a sooner replacement if yours starts to malfunction. The stellar part is that you can always get a newer and more efficient model.

For instance, programmable thermostats are far superior than non-programmable ones. They feature an advanced technology that consists of several programming options.

6. Failure to Respond to Changed Settings

Your thermostat should respond to changes made to temperature settings immediately. You should hear a small clicking sound while changes are being made. You probably need to replace the thermostat if it doesn’t make the changes promptly.

7. Short Cycling HVAC System

Short-cycling HVAC systems is one of the top reasons for homeowners to replace their old thermostats. This refers to the system shutting off earlier than required. The HVAC system in this case fails to complete a full heating or cooling cycle. You may not be able to fix your thermostat if your system is short-cycling. You should consider having it replaced instead.