Your thermostat has a large impact on how warm or cool your house is. Pay attention to the following six signs that your home might need a new thermostat.
1. Short Cycling
If your HVAC unit is turning on and off multiple times during the same period it used to run continuously, then something may be amiss with your thermostat, particularly if it’s an older, non-digital model. Sometimes, it’s frayed wires with these older thermostats, but as often as not, the temperature spring inside is inaccurate. Fortunately, replacing it with a digital thermostat, programmable or not, is an easy fix.
2. Wrong Temperatures
It’s cool in your house, but your digital thermostat is reading that it’s 80 F inside. When this happens, your thermostat will run and run and run to reach its set temperature, but it never will. If your digital thermostat is reading so wrongly, then it’s time to get a new one, preferably one that’s programmable and/or a smart thermostat.
3. Absurd Energy Bills
Even if you don’t notice the HVAC struggling to keep your home cool in the summer and warm in the winter, you are sure to notice the effect such extra running has on your energy bills. A huge spike means that something’s wrong. With the longevity and toughness of modern HVAC systems, it’s likely the thermostat that’s the culprit. Having a professional look at your system and thermostat is a good idea. Most repairs are a pittance compared to multiple months of high energy bills, and if you have a maintenance plan in place, then the cost will be even more reasonable than if you didn’t.
4. Running Hot and Cold
This usually affects homes that have programmable digital thermostats set to “automatic” where the HVAC system cools to a certain level or heats to a certain level based on the temperature. As an example, it could be set to “cool to 72 F, and heat to 66F.” If the system is cooling or heating at the wrong times, then the thermostat might need replacement. A professional HVAC technician would be able to advise you about the situation.
5. Temperature Not Changing
You set your thermostat, and nothing happens. You want it 70 F, and it’s 78 F, but the HVAC system doesn’t turn on even if you pick different temperatures. This is similar to the thermostat displaying the wrong temperature. To see what’s what, set the heat to be higher than 78, and check if it turns on. If it does, then it could also be part of the cooling system. The same is true if the problem is reversed, and you can’t turn the heat on, but the cooling works.
6. Blank Screen
When it comes to digital thermostats, a blank screen could simply be a need for new batteries. If, however, you replace the batteries, and the screen is still blank, then it’s time for a new thermostat. Unfortunately, it’s not generally possible to repair such a broken thermostat. When you replace it, it makes sense to upgrade to a programmable smart thermostat or, if you already had such a thermostat, to replace it with another one that has the same capabilities.
