Since bad weather and huge thunderstorms can happen almost any day and out of the blue, especially during the summer season, you never know when you can wind up with a power outage and how long it can last. When this type of inconvenience happens, sitting in the dark without any TV or internet connection should not be your main worry. When the power finally comes back on, you should immediately check whether your AC system is working properly.
Typically, there are two possible outcomes for the tricky scenario involving your air conditioning not coming back on after a power outage:
- Your AC is broken
- Your AC needs resetting
But before you call our Chills Air Conditioning headquarters and seek professional help, make sure you try this simple procedure first.
Here’s how to reset your AC unit in your house or building in 5 easy steps:
Step 1: Turn Off Your Thermostat
Find your thermostat and turn it off. This will make sure it is not triggering your AC system to keep on trying to cool down your home. This is necessary before you move onto the next step, which is resetting the circuit breaker.
NOTE: Beware that some thermostats run on batteries, which means the problem may be solved by simply changing the batteries in your thermostat. If this isn’t the case and you have a regular thermostat that runs on regular power, move onto step number 2.
Step 2: Locate Your AC’s Circuit Breaker Box
There’s a possibility that a power surge pushed your AC’s circuit too hard, which may have caused an error in your circuit breaker. Should this be the case, you will need to find the box and reset it. Possible location of your circuit breaker box:
- Basement
- Garage
- Closets
- Laundry room
- Somewhere outside
Step 3: Reset the Circuit Breaker
Once you’ve located your circuit breaker box, open it and find the circuit that belongs to your AC system (it usually has a label on it that says air conditioner or HVAC). In case you can’t recognize which circuit belongs to your AC, simply locate the “tripped” switch (the one in neutral position), reset the circuit breaker by turning it off (the right position), then turning it on (the left position), and you’re good to go.
Step 4: Wait Half an Hour
Yes, we are aware that this step might be a bit tedious and annoying, but it may turn out to be crucial for the whole process. Namely, after a power outage, your AC unit needs this time in order to reset the circuit breaker that is located inside the very unit. It usually takes about 30 minutes, which is why it is paramount to keep the thermostat switched off during this process. AC’s internal breaker won’t be able to reset if your thermostat is constantly asking your AC to start cooling.
Step 5: Set Your Thermostat to “Cool” Again
Once the needed 30 minutes are up, you can turn the thermostat back on and set it to “cool.” This should make your air conditioning unit work properly, but – make sure to set the temperature setting minimum 5 degrees below your current room temperature, for only then will the thermostat be able to call for cooling and trigger your AC unit.
Possible Step 6: Call Chills Air Conditioning
In case your unit still isn’t working after the 5 “how to reset AC unit” steps we mentioned above, it is possible there’s a bigger issue with your system, and you should call our professional team to help you out. Good luck!
