The thermostat is an essential part of your home’s HVAC system. Without it, you have no way to change the temperature in the house or even turn your air conditioning and heating system on and off. If you use a digital thermostat (and you should; they are far more precise and effective than older manual models), a problem you might encounter at one point is discovering that thermostat screen has gone blank, and pushing the buttons does nothing to change it and it won’t turn the HVAC system on or off.
There are a few reasons this might happen. We’ll go through them and what you can do about them. In many cases, you will need the assistance of a trained HVAC repair technician.
The power is out or a circuit breaker has tripped
If the blank thermostat occurs during the day, it’s possible that you have lost electrical power to your house and haven’t noticed it yet. The power loss could also be the result of a tripped circuit breaker that powers the air conditioner or heater. Many thermostats run on low voltage sent from the transformer on the HVAC system; if the transformer loses power, so will the thermostat. Check on the circuit breaker box and reset any switches that have tripped.
The thermostat needs new batteries
Not all thermostats run off voltage coming from the HVAC system. Some receive power from batteries housed within the unit itself. To change the batteries, you have to detach the faceplate of the thermostat from the wall. Check with the owner’s manual to find out how to do this. Put in fresh batteries and see if this reactivates the thermostat’s display.
A tripped safety switch
Safety switches on air conditioners and furnaces can be tripped and cut off power to the thermostat. For an air conditioning system, this usually occurs because of water overflow in the condensate pan. With a gas furnace, it’s usually the limit switch tripping because the furnace is overheating. You shouldn’t attempt to fix either problem on your own: call for professional repairs.
The thermostat itself is broken
An electric failure in the thermostat unit may be at fault. If the HVAC system is fine and there are no power issues, then a technician will advise you about whether the thermostat should be fixed or replaced. It’s usually advisable to upgrade if you have an older unit.
Whenever you need air conditioning repair, for whatever reason, in Burlington, VT, call on Red Rock Mechanical.
