If your heat or cooling hasn’t been working properly and you suspect that the problem lies in your thermostat, then the fix should be relatively easy. In the event that the thermostat is completely broken, you may need to install a new one. But short of that, try these steps for troubleshooting a thermostat.


Double check temperatures

Keep in mind that there should be two temperatures displayed on the thermostat—the room temperature and the set point temperature. The set point temperature is the one that you control, and the room temperature is just a measurement of the air in the room. Depending on the thermostat settings, one might be displayed much more prominently than the other. If you can’t locate the set temperature, change the settings so that it displays. It could be that you just haven’t put the set temperature on a setting that causes your heating or cooling system to work properly.

Once you’ve taken a closer look at the settings, measure the room temperature displayed on the thermostat against a reading you get from a real thermometer. They should match up within a couple degrees of one another.

Calibrate the room temperature

If the room temperature displayed by the thermostat is dramatically different from the real temperature, you can recalibrate it by following the instructions in your thermostat’s user manual. Every thermostat has a different procedures, so it’s impossible to give generalized directions on this.

Check the connections

Remove the thermostat cover and gently pull the mechanism away from the wall. Make sure that all the wires are securely fastened. In all likelihood, there will be wires of a few different colors that match up to color-coded plugins on the back of the thermostat unit. Make sure everything is wired properly and tightly connected.

Test the thermostat

After calibrating the thermostat and checking the connections, try running your thermostat at different settings. Turn the set temperature way down to make sure that the cooling comes on. Then, turn the temperature way up so that the heating comes on. If you can confirm that these things happen, then you’ve likely fixed the problem. However, if there are still problems, than your heating or cooling system is likely in need of some more serious work.