Air conditioning problems often occur at the most inconvenient times. Your air conditioning system may work fine during the mildly warm spring months. When the summer months roll around, though, it may fail to cool your home. What should you do exactly if your air conditioning system stops working during the summer?
Check the Thermostat Settings
If your air conditioning system stops working during the summer, don’t panic. It might be something as simple as the thermostat settings. Some thermostats have a “hold” setting, for instance. When engaged, the “hold” setting will maintain the specified temperature. It’s a common feature with programmable thermostats.
You can program a thermostat to achieve different temperatures at different times of the day. The “hold” setting simply ignores these prescheduled cooling times, which can leave some homeowners to believe that their air conditioning system isn’t working. Regardless, you should check the thermostat settings if your air conditioning system isn’t cooling your home during the summer.
Check the Air Vents
In addition to the thermostat, you should check the air vents. Obstructed or closed air vents can create the illusion of air conditioning failure. Your air conditioning system may not be able to release a sufficient amount of conditioned air if the vents are obstructed or closed.
Most air conditioning systems use two types of vents. They use return vents to draw in unconditioned air, and they use supply vents to release conditioned air. Both types of vents need to be unobstructed and open for your air conditioning system to effectively cool your home.
Contact an HVAC Technician
Regardless of the type of failure from which your air conditioning system is suffering, a heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) technician can probably fix it. HVAC technicians know how to diagnose problems with air conditioning systems. Maybe your air conditioning system has a bad compressor, or perhaps the ducts are clogged with dust and debris. By contacting an HVAC technician, you can get your air conditioning system back up and running.
Use Alternative Methods to Keep Cool
There are several things you can do to keep cool until your air conditioning system is fixed. Keeping the curtains closed, for example, can have a positive impact on your home’s temperature. With the curtains closed, less heat will enter your home through the windows.
You can also run the fans to keep cool. Fans won’t necessarily lower the temperature of your home, but they will make it feel cooler by circulating the air. These are just a few ways to maintain a more comfortable living space until your air conditioning system has been fixed.