Boehmer Heating & Cooling Blog: Posts Tagged ‘Thermostat’

Thermostat Troubleshooting: No Heat

Monday, January 15th, 2018

thermostat-maintenance-technicianThe first place to look when a heating system is not working the way that it should is the thermostat. This is what most people do, anyway, but it may be a bit more confusing an endeavor than expected. Today’s programmable thermostats can have complex settings that may be difficult to understand. And you may be wondering how to tell whether your thermostat is actually at fault.

That’s what we’re here for. We hope to help you decipher some of the mystery behind your thermostat so you know what to look for when something goes wrong. If you aren’t getting heat from your thermostat and HVAC system, give us a call or read on for some questions to ask yourself.

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Could Your Thermostat Be Broken?

Monday, August 1st, 2016

The first step you take when your air conditioner isn’t working is to check the thermostat. It’s always possible that someone has changed the settings by accident, or even that the thermostat is out of batteries.

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Furnace Problems Caused by Your Thermostat

Monday, December 2nd, 2013

The thermostat is a small object, but it performs a big job: it’s your means of communicating with the furnace in your home. If the thermostat develops malfunctions, it can threaten the comfort of your home.

When a thermostat starts to go awry, it can first appear as if something is wrong within the furnace cabinet or the ducts. This is one reason you should always rely on assistance from HVAC professionals when you have problems with your heating; attempting repairs on your own can lead to worse trouble if you are trying to fix something that isn’t broken. Call in experts like the ones on staff at Boehmer Heating & Cooling and let them locate the source of the trouble with your furnace in Pittsburgh, PA and find the best way to repair it.

Here are a few of the troubles you can experience with your furnace because of a faulty thermostat:

  • Furnace won’t come on: If the furnace won’t start up when the temperature drops, you should check the thermostat first to make sure you have it set correctly. If the thermostat has lost its connection to the furnace, it won’t activate the igniter. The thermostat might also be miscalibrated, so it senses incorrect indoor temperatures and registers the house as warmer than it actually is.
  • Furnace won’t stop running: A broken thermostat can also mean the furnace will continue to run, overworking its parts and making your home too hot. As with a furnace that won’t come on, this might indicate a thermostat miscalibration. Or it could be electrical trouble with the wire from the thermostat that switches the furnace on and off.
  • Furnace short-cycles: “Short cycling” is when the furnace comes on for only a brief period and then shuts off before completing its heating cycle. Again, this might be a thermostat miscalibration: the thermostat registers prematurely that the furnace has reached its target temperature and shuts it off. This will damage your furnace, drain power, and leave parts of your home cold.

Here’s something to keep in mind about thermostat operation: a thermostat is a switch, not a throttle. It turns your furnace on and off; it doesn’t increase the amount of heat it produces or speed it up. Turning the thermostat up to 90°F won’t heat up your home faster; it will just keep the furnace running until it reaches that point.

Get in touch with Boehmer Heating & Cooling when you need repairs for your furnace in Pittsburgh, PA. You don’t want a malfunctioning thermostat to leave you a deep freeze this winter. We have 24-hour emergency service to make sure you won’t stay cold for long.

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Pittsburgh Air Conditioning Replacement Tip: Why Upgrade My Thermostat?

Tuesday, June 18th, 2013

If you’re not yet ready for or don’t yet need a new system replacement, an air conditioning upgrade is a great way to breathe new life into your existing system without making any major modifications. One particularly effective upgrade is a new thermostat. Today’s thermostats are much different from their conventional predecessors. They are accurate, easy to read and adjust, and can significantly improve your AC. There are various makes and models on the market today, so it’s best to consult with a professional technician about any changes to your existing system so that you can take full advantage of the benefits of your thermostat upgrade.

In order to understand why upgrading might be right for you, let’s take a look at some of the benefits of a thermostat upgrade.

  • Better control: A digital, programmable, or even wifi-enabled device gives you better control over the temperature of your home. It allows you to fully customize a schedule of cooling that works around your schedule. By giving you more accurate temperature readings and better control over actualizing those temperatures, a thermostat upgrade can help you take control of your AC system.
  • Energy efficiency: One of the great benefits of a thermostat upgrade is that it leads to energy savings. There’s simply no better way to control your energy costs than by having your programmable thermostat turn off your AC when you’re not there and turn it on just before you walk in the door. Because your AC takes up such a major portion of your home energy budget during the cooling season, any improvements you can make help to alleviate the cost.

There are a number of different thermostats available for use in your home, and the technology keeps advancing. Whether you go with a simple digital, programmable, or wifi-enabled model, make sure it is able to integrate well with your existing AC. Call a Pittsburgh air conditioning replacement technician at Boehmer Heating & Cooling today to learn more about what you can do to improve your AC. 

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How a Thermostat Works

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

Your thermostat is designed to closely monitor and maintain the temperature in your home. When you flip the switch, you want your furnace or air conditioner to respond immediately. So, it’s a good idea to learn how it works so that if there is a problem, not only will you know better what needs to be fixed – you can decide whether to call a professional in for help.

Thermostats shouldn’t need input from you other than to set the initial temperature. From there, they are automatic switches. A thermometer inside the thermostat measures the indoor air temperature. When it gets above or below the limit you’ve specified, it triggers the thermostat to send a message to your home comfort system and keep things nice and comfortable.

Types of Thermostat

Thermostats come in two forms –electromechanical and electronic. An electromechanical thermostat is the simplest and has been used for decades to regulate temperature in homes. It has a simple strip or coil of metal that expands as the temperature rises and contract as it lowers. A mercury thermometer is placed on top of the strip. The coil’s movements cause the vial to tip as the temperature changes. There is a pair of electrical contacts on either end of the vial. The mercury can absorb that electrical current when the electrical contacts touch the thermometer. The mercury then acts as a switch to turn on your comfort system.

An electronic thermostat simply has an electronic sensor that measures the indoor air temperature. You set a temperature for your room and when it changes significantly, the switch inside your electronic thermostat is triggered, causing it to turn on your comfort system.

Ways to Upgrade Your Thermostat

Most homes only need the bare minimum in their thermostats. However, there is some very exciting technology on the market these days that can add quite a bit of value to your system. Not only can you install a programmable thermostat, you can opt for zone control systems that allow multiple thermostats in different rooms of your home.

Programming allows you to set temperatures for certain times of the day. This is especially great if you are gone from the house for long periods of time each day. Why heat or cool a home when it is empty? And if you have multiple people with different temperature needs, zone control temperature control allows you to set specific temperatures for specific rooms in your home – a very enticing option for large families or multi-story homes.

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