The thermostat plays a critical role in the function of your home’s air conditioner. It tells you how well your air conditioner maintains the set thermostat temperature when it works properly. To ensure it works reliably, you can use these six tips to calibrate your thermostat for optimal summer comfort.
1. Check the Thermostat’s Accuracy
Before you calibrate your thermostat, we will check its accuracy in reading the air temperature in your house. To do this, we will turn on your air conditioner and let it run for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, we will compare the thermostat number to the indoor air temperature. If the air temperature does not match the temperature of the thermostat setting, we then proceed with calibrating your thermostat.
2. Gently Clean the Thermostat
It is best to hire us for professional HVAC services to clean the inside of your thermostat as part of its calibration. The next step involves gently cleaning the inside of your air conditioner’s thermostat. Cleaning the inside of the thermostat can help it operate better and improve the efficiency of your air conditioner temperature readings.
It is important to gently handle the inside of your thermostat and pay close attention to its wiring. We do not want to risk any of the thermostat’s connections coming loose or its parts breaking.
3. Adjust the Mercury Vial
Another step to calibrate your air conditioner’s thermostat involves straightening its mercury vial. If your air conditioner has a mercury vial, straightening it can help calibrate it for improved function.
You can use a level or simply eyeball the vial as you straighten it. However, you should exercise caution to avoid contacting the mercury inside the vial.
You may even feel more confident handing off this task to a professional like us. By doing so, you avoid coming into contact with mercury inside the vial, which could potentially put you and others in the home at risk. You can also ensure the vial is straightened to function better.
4. Tighten the Calibration Screw
If your air conditioner does not have a mercury vial in it, we can try tightening the calibration screw to calibrate your thermostat. Tightening this screw requires to use the right tools for it.
If you lack a screwdriver set or are unsure about where to find this screw, once again, hire an HVAC company for this task. You avoid damaging the screw and compromising the function of your air conditioner thermostat.
5. Check the Wiring
Along with tightening the calibration screw and adjusting the vial, it is an ideal time to have the wiring inside of your thermostat checked. Over time, the wiring can accumulate grime like corrosion and dust. Connections can also get loose and prevent the thermostat from reading correctly. We can replace or repair faulty wiring and have grime cleaned from it as part of its calibration.
6. Recheck the Temperature
After following these steps to calibrate your thermostat, we will recheck the temperature. After you set the thermostat at the desired temperature, allow the air conditioner to run for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, compare that setting to the actual indoor air temperature.
DYI Thermostat Calibration Is Not for Everyone
Calibrating a thermostat might seem simple, but it’s not for everyone. It requires understanding how the thermostat and the HVAC system work together. Many modern thermostats have advanced features that can be tricky to set up correctly. If they’re not set up right, it can make your heating and cooling system work harder, costing you more money and making the moving parts wear out faster. There’s also a safety risk if you’re not familiar with working with electrical parts. That’s why it’s often best to have a professional do the calibration to make sure everything works as it should.
Rely on Us to Calibrate Your Thermostat
Calibrating the thermostat in your home’s air conditioner can optimize the comfort you get from it this summer. At Bratcher Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc., we know what it takes to calibrate your home’s thermostat for more comfort and coolness this summer. Our business has years of experience serving the Bloomington area. Customers in neighboring cities look to us whenever they need their HVAC systems maintained, repaired, or replaced.
We calibrate thermostats in air conditioners, install heaters, and work on geothermal systems for homes and businesses throughout the area. Our technicians routinely work on a wide variety of brands of HVAC systems. You can also contact us 24/7 for emergency HVAC repair services.
Contact Bratcher Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc. to learn more about our thermostat calibration services and to schedule your HVAC system’s professional service today.
