Photo By AndreyPopov at istock

When all goes well, homeowners don’t have to think about their HVAC system. After all, the ideal situation involves relaxing in your home with a comfortable temperature, not too hot and not too cold. When heating and air conditioning repair becomes necessary, that means that your Plano, TX home’s temperature is likely off and the home is likely quite uncomfortable. As any homeowner who has sat through a Texas summer without a working HVAC can tell you, that’s a nightmare of a situation.

Luckily, you can minimize the chance of that happening by staying on top of the signs that you might have a faulty thermostat before you need to schedule heating and air conditioning repair. Here are a few things to look for!

The Temperature Change Function Does Nothing

In an ideal situation, you’re able to adjust the temperature on your HVAC throughout the day and choose the temperature that makes the most sense for your needs, depending on what time of day it is and what you’re about to do. For example, if you prefer to have a cool home at night, you can set your system a few degrees cooler before bed so that you can snuggle in a warm bed.

But sometimes, when you change the temperature on your HVAC, nothing happens in terms of the home’s temperature. It’s not in your head, it’s a sign that you need heating and air conditioning repair, because your thermostat isn’t responding to your change. One reason this might happen is if your air conditioner has frozen over, which prevents it from actually cooling your home. If this is the case, not only will you need to get a repair scheduled quickly, but you won’t have any cool air in the home until their job is complete.

Basically, this is an area where there really isn’t any ambiguity to consider. If you can’t change the temperature in your home, you need to schedule a repair soon.

A Unit Won’t Operate

To know if your HVAC isn’t working properly, it helps to know what it should sound like when things are working the way that they should. For example, if your home is dead silent when you don’t have the HVAC operational and usually makes noise when the AC kicks on, you know that you need heating and air conditioning repair if you turn on the AC and the house’s noise level doesn’t change. The same idea is true when you turn on the heating system in your Plano, TX home and discover that after a few minutes, you don’t feel any warmer at any point in your home, even right by the HVAC system.

If either part of your system isn’t operating correctly, that’s a sign that you need to schedule heating and air conditioning repair soon to prevent the problem from getting worse. Even if it’s not the season where you’re likely to need the component that isn’t working right, you should still schedule repairs as soon as you can. Let’s say that it’s April and you discover that your heating unit goes out, but the temperature in Plano is scheduled to be in the high 70’s for the rest of the week, so you decide that you can let heating and air conditioning repair wait until you actually need it.

What usually happens? You end up forgetting about your heating system until it’s November, and you suddenly find yourself shivering through the Cowboys’ Thanksgiving game because you never scheduled the necessary repairs to keep your system working properly. Remember, most homeowners don’t think about their HVAC system until they have a good reason to do so, so don’t let it slip your mind.

Your Thermostat Is Dirty

Could something this simple really cause a serious problem with your HVAC? Yes and no. When this is the cause, heating and air conditioning repair isn’t actually necessary, because the problem is with the thermostat and not the HVAC system.

But when this problem occurs, you’ve still got a real issue on your hands, because when the thermostat gets dirty, you usually can’t change the temperature or get it to operate at all, which makes it difficult for you to test anything to make sure that it’s still working properly. If you don’t see your thermostat doing anything, cleaning it thoroughly should be your first step to determine whether the problem is a simple one or requires expert help. If a cleaning doesn’t solve the issue, that’s when you need to schedule heating and air conditioning repair for your Plano, TX home so that you can get to the bottom of the issue quickly.

What Can I Do to Prevent Problems?

The best way for you to stay on top of issues with your HVAC system is to do exactly that: look at it and test it regularly to make sure there aren’t any problems with either unit. Even if it’s July, it’s a good idea to turn on the heater (as well as the AC) for a few minutes once a month to make sure the hot air is still blowing hot and the cool air still comes out cold. Testing your system is the best way for you to figure out if there are any problems that require repair in your home.

What happens if you spot an issue in your home? That’s when you need to contact an experienced repair team to provide services on your HVAC system before too long. If you give K&S Heating and Air a call, we’ll be able to pinpoint exactly what’s wrong with your HVAC system by giving it a full inspection and providing critical heating and air conditioning repair services that can restore your system to peak functionality. If your home doesn’t feel like it’s at the right temperature, be sure to contact K&S Heating and Air right away; we’ll figure out the problem and provide a solution!