A few months ago, I wrote to you emphasizing reasons why you shouldn’t perform DIY repairs on HVAC equipment unless you are a certified technician; at Air Integrity HVAC this is something we stand by. The narrative you are about to read will lead you through very basic, surface level actions you can perform to see if there’s anything wrong with your system besides basic maintenance. Being able to safely diagnose errors with your system can ultimately help you decide if you need to call a licensed HVAC technician or not.
Imagine this:
You are sitting on the couch watching your favorite TV show. About 20 minutes into the episode, you notice that the room temperature doesn’t feel like the temperature you desire even though that’s what you set it to before sitting down. So, you pause your show and walk over to the thermostat. At this time, you make sure that the switch is on “cool” or “heat” and not “off”. Forgetting to set the thermostat to either “cool” or “heat” can happen, so it doesn’t hurt to check if you forgot!
If you notice that you did switch the thermostat to “cool” or “heat” 20 minutes ago, then continuing, you decide to go back into the living room to check the supply vent. Raising your head, you see the small rectangular grill attached to the ceiling. You lift your arm so that your hand can feel the air flow from the vent. Your fingers feel a very faint breeze – maybe the return vent needs a filter change. Your eyes travel to the baseboards in search of the larger rectangular grill. With your fingers you unsnap the clips of the grill to inspect the air filter. Noticing the air filter is quite dirty, you look for measurements of the filter which are located on the side. Replacing air filters regularly can improve the air quality and pressure which your supply vents blow.
But what if you didn’t feel any air flowing through the vent? Your fingers are extended up toward the supply vent grill, and you do not feel even the faintest blow nor hear any sound of air being pushed out. You note that there could be an error with the furnace or air handler. So, you think about whether your furnace is in your closet, basement, attic, etc. Once you verify its location, you go over to see if the main switch is on for the furnace. If you’ve had someone working in the space near the furnace, they may have forgotten to turn the furnace switch back on or accidentally turned it off (thinking it may have been a regular light switch); making sure it’s on can potentially solve the problem of heat flowing through your vent.
Through this scenario, I listed a few troubleshooting tips that have been known to fix common HVAC problems without needing to call a technician. Another tip includes locating your breaker panel and flipping the air conditioner switch off and then back on again. Notice how this tip and the others I mentioned are surface level and don’t involve tinkering with the inside components of your unit – leave that to a professional in regards of your time, money, and most importantly safety. But if all of these troubleshooting techniques fail, it is time to call a professional. We are more than ready to service our customers at Air Integrity HVAC, so give us a call!
~Nevaonna Alfred