Your
thermostat is an important part of your home HVAC system. It sends signals to
your home air conditioner and furnace as needed to control their operation. One
important thermostat function is sensing the temperature in the air of your
home and then prompting your HVAC system to begin blowing warm or cool air into
your home vents as needed to maintain your desired thermostat temperature
setting.
The temperature in every room of your home may not always
match this temperature setting precisely due to the stack effect and window and
door drafts that allow cool air to enter only some rooms in your home. However,
the air in the room where the thermostat is located should always stay within
several degrees of this temperature setting. If the air in the room where your
thermostat is located does not stay close to your thermostat setting, then that
may signal a thermostat problem.
Read
on to learn three reasons why the temperature in your home may not match your
thermostat setting and how to remedy these problems.
1.
Dirt or Debris Inside of Thermostat
Over time, dirt, dust, and debris can build up inside of a
digital thermostat's outer case. If this debris covers the temperature sensor,
it can inhibit the thermostat's ability to read the temperature of the
surrounding air precisely.
Every
homeowner should clean their thermostat on a regular basis to help keep it
working efficiently. To clean it, remove the thermostat cover. Then, use a soft
brush, such as a paint brush or a can of compressed air to remove dirt, dust,
and debris that has accumulated inside of the thermostat over the years. Do not
touch the internal components of the thermostat with your fingers as you clean
them to avoid damaging them.
If
you notice that any thermostat components are covered in surface corrosion that
cannot be removed with a brush or compressed air, then you can attempt to
remove this corrosion with an electrical contact cleaner. However, if this
corrosion is severe or cannot be removed with this cleaner, then contact an
HVAC expert for thermostat repair or replacement.
2. Calibration Problems
The
temperature sensors inside of a thermostat are calibrated at the manufacturing
facility where the thermostat is produced and/or by the HVAC experts who
install the thermostats to ensure they produce accurate temperature readings.
As these sensors lose efficiency over time, the calibration can change.
Miscalibrated temperature sensors can produce inaccurate temperature readings
of the air surrounding them.
Along
with an indoor air temperature that does not match the thermostat temperature
setting, thermostat miscalibration can also cause short cycling of your air
conditioning system and furnace. Short cycling places excess wear-and-tear on
your HVAC system that can lead to the need for early furnace replacement and
increases the energy consumption of your HVAC system.
If
you suspect your thermostat is miscalibrated, contact an HVAC expert who can
recalibrate it to help it produce accurate temperature readings again and
eliminate any HVAC system short cycling that may be occurring.
3.
Thermostat Installed in a Bad Location Another
common thermostat problem that can cause the temperature in a home to rarely
match the temperature setting of the thermostat is a simple misplacement of the
thermostat. If your thermostat is located where direct sun rays can strike it
through a window or where cold drafty air from a nearby door can pass over it
during the winter, then the thermostat may sense that the air in the home is
much hotter or cooler than it is and signal the HVAC system to turn on and off
when not necessary.
If
you suspect that the location of your thermostat is the reason your home
temperature rarely matches the temperature setting of your thermostat, then
contact an HVAC expert who can relocate the thermostat to an interior wall of
the home where the temperature remains steady.
If
the temperature of your home rarely seems to match your thermostat temperature
setting, then one of these three problems may be to blame. Contact the HVAC
experts at Action Plumbing & Heating Maintenance for
thermostat problem
diagnosis and repair today.
