What You Need To Know About AC Thermostat Calibration
Before the weather turns hot, you want to make sure your air conditioner is in good working order. Each part of your air conditioner must work properly for the entire unit to function. Even the smallest part not working will cause the unit to stop blowing out cold air. The thermostat is the brain behind your HVAC system. This is what ensures it runs properly. It may continue to push cold out into the air, but it may not do so efficiently. The thermostat may need calibration to run correctly and efficiently. Continue reading to find out more about air conditioning thermostat calibration.
What is Thermostat Calibration?
When the thermostat is calibrated, it means the sensor it contains reads the temperature in your home correctly. When it is not calibrated, it means it is reading it improperly. For example, the temperature in your home could be 78 degrees, but the thermostat reads 70 degrees. Then, your house does not cool the way you want it to. In addition, your air conditioner will not be efficient and may run constantly. As a result, you will spend more money to cool your house to the temperature you want. This causes a strain on your air conditioning, and you may have expensive repairs as a result.
How Often to Calibrate?
It would be best if you had the thermostat calibrated at least once per year. It depends on how many people may be adjusted your thermostat. If you have it set to a schedule and do not play with it much, calibration once a year should be sufficient.
How to Calibrate
To ensure that your thermostat is functioning properly, you should contact the professionals at One Stop Heating & Cooling. We would be more than happy to meet with you and ensure your thermostat is calibrated and the air conditioning is running properly.
If you want to calibrate your thermostat yourself, there are some steps you must follow.
Check the Thermostat
You want to make sure that the thermostat is the problem. Let your air conditioner run for 15 minutes and use an indoor thermometer to check the temperature in the house. You want to compare it to the temperature on the thermostat. If there are differences by even one degree, then you should calibrate your thermostat.
Clean Thermostat
You must take the cover off the thermostat. Then, carefully use a cloth and soft brush to clean the components inside. You should not use compressed air or a vacuum cleaner to clean the thermostat because the pressure is too much for the internal parts.
Make Adjustments
If there is a mercury vial, you want to make sure it is straight. You can use a level to ensure it is straight. You want to be careful with the vial. It does contain mercury. At any point, you can contact One Stop Heating & Cooling to provide assistance and calibrate your thermostat. For thermostats without a mercury vial, they have a calibration screw. The calibration screw is inside a piece of metal in the thermostat. Using the proper size screwdriver, you can turn the screw to open the contacts. After a few seconds, turn the screw to close the contacts. This will reset the contacts to provide a good connection.
Wiring Connections
You want to check the wiring in the thermostat. You want to make sure they are clean and without corrosion. You can use a cotton swab to clean the dirt. Check the wires one last time before you put the cover back on the thermostat.
Check Thermostat
After you have cleaned the thermostat, adjusted the mercury vial or calibration screw, cleaned the wiring, you want to check the temperature again. Let the air conditioning run for 15 minutes to recalibrate it. After that, take a reading with the indoor thermometer. Then, compare this temperature with the thermostat reading. The temperatures should be the same. If they still do not match, you can repeat the same steps. You can also consider contacting the professionals at One Stop Heating & Cooling. We will make sure all the parts of your air conditioning are running smoothly. They will also be able to determine quickly if the problem with your air conditioning is the thermostat or some other component.
When the thermostat is calibrated, it will cool your home properly, which creates a comfortable environment in your home. In addition, when your thermostat runs efficiently, it saves you money on your energy bill because it will not overwork and run constantly to maintain what it thinks is the correct temperature in your home. This also helps to prevent costly repairs for your air conditioning unit. When it runs inefficiently, it causes strain on the unit, which ultimately means it will break down and require repair more often.
