Thermostats

If you require the installation of new heating and air conditioning equipment or the repair of existing equipment, our team is ready to provide the reliable service that you deserve! One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning offers installation, repair, replacement and servicing for all your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning needs.

Thermostats are a critical part of heating and air conditioning systems. When the heat or AC doesn’t come on or perform the way it should, the thermostat is frequently the last thing that people think of as the problem. Thermostat services is one of the things that the knowledgeable service providers from Smart Heating and Air can provide. They’ll keep your thermostat in good working order and help prevent an unnecessary (and costly) service call later on.

Why is a thermostat so important?

Heating and cooling systems are made up of mostly larger components, including the heating and/or cooling unit, the supplementary equipment needed to perform that work, and the equipment that distributes the heated or cooled air. 

The smallest major component but arguably the most important is a thermostat. Thermostats are sometimes referred to as the “brain” of the system because absolutely nothing else can perform accurately unless the thermostat works correctly. 

The basic job of a thermostat is to determine the temperature in your home and communicate a status to the heating or cooling system. That, in turn, will activate a response to increase or decrease the amount of heating or cooling to provide or to turn the system on or off. That’s a simple but very important job. 

3 categories of thermostats

• Mechanical – easy to operate manually but may not work with both heating and cooling system so additional equipment may be needed
• Electrical/digital – more advanced features but limited to the current setting and somewhat more costly
• Programmable – the most advanced type of thermostat that provides options you didn’t know you needed until you try them!

Mechanical thermostats remain at the same temperature setting at all times unless someone manually adjusts it up or down every time the temperature changes. It’s easy to operate for anyone but requires regular monitoring because it can’t adjust on its own. 

The electrical or digital thermostat needs less monitoring, but it also can’t do much more than adjust to temperature changes. That potentially means unnecessary energy costs because it may heat or cool reliably – but in an empty house. 

The “smart” technology of a programmable thermostat can significantly increase energy savings as it automatically adjusts the temperature as needed or according to a schedule that you set. It’s a “set it and forget it” technology – it maintains a basic level of service when you’re not there and increases service while you’re home and need it more. 

The programmable type may need a little more time to understand and set up to match your preferences. Our thermostat services pros can assist you in customizing your thermostat to fit your family’s needs. 

Maintenance and repair

Thermostat maintenance is fairly straightforward – generally it either needs a simple adjustment or it needs to be replaced. Compared to other major components of heating and cooling systems, replacement is generally not prohibitively expensive. 

If your heating or cooling system doesn’t come on when you expect it to, there are several things that could be wrong depending on the type of heating or cooling system – furnace pilot light is out, you’ve run out of propane gas, a breaker or fuse needs to be fixed. 

The simplest fix is the one we usually don’t think of first – the batteries. When that happens, it’s a relief because it’s such a simple fix that almost anyone can make. 

But after you’ve replaced the batteries (make sure they’re fresh ones that have been tested in another device) and the thermostat still isn’t working, what to do? 

There are several other things that may cause a failure to heat or cool – the thermostat needs to be replaced, it’s not positioned properly, it needs to be cleaned, it wasn’t installed correctly. Or it may actually be defective or have outlived its usefulness.

That’s definitely the time when having an experienced partner is so valuable. A call to a service provider from Smart Heating and Air can be a quick and relatively easy solution. Our pros will determine the problem and be able to make recommendations that will quickly get your home warm or cool again. And they can remind you to change the batteries!