Whether you’re at home alone or maybe hosting an event for a group of people like a bachelorette party, you want to make sure your residence is temperate. This means having a functioning HVAC system, and thermostat to control it. If it’s colder outside, a thermostat can help control your house furnace to create heat. If it’s blistering hot outside a thermostat can assist your air conditioner with making your home cooler. No matter whether you prefer the warmth that a furnace brings, or the cold temperatures that an air conditioner provides, a thermostat is an essential part of controlling the climate of your homes.

In some cases though, as with many HVAC-related devices, thermostats sometimes need service and repairs. Homeowners across the United States often spend between $109-$295 to have their thermostats repaired. Sometimes, factors that can determine the costs of such repairs include if the thermostat is under warranty, and the different types of thermostat models. In any case, issues will arise with these devices that need to be taken care of. Today we’ll focus on five common thermostat issues and what they actually mean.

1. Thermostat isn’t reaching indicated temperature.

We all know that the thermostat has no control over how fast your house heats up. It’s good to realize this before handling any thermostat issues, so you don’t attribute any furnace heating issues or air conditioner cooling problems with the thermostat. One issue that you’ll encounter with thermostats though is that sometimes they won’t reach their indicated temperature. You might feel that your heating and cooling system isn’t pumping out the right temperature of cold air due to the thermostat not reaching the temperature that you wanted.

This sometimes is indicated by an area in your home not going through a significant temperature change after a bit of time has passed. This sometimes might occur because the area you’re trying to add hot or cold air to might have been subjected to a temp change by other sources. This can be due to the area being near direct sunlight, or outdoor cold air, near doors and windows. This can cause your air conditioner or heating system to not reach the temperature which you’ve indicated on your programmable thermostat.

2. Thermostat turned up too quickly to heat rooms.

Imagine you’re hosting a bachelorette party for your best friend. You want to make the night special for the bride-to-be as a part of your role as a bridesmaid. You’ve looked through all of the non traditional bachelorette party ideas on ways to make the night one that your best friend will remember. You’ve tossed around ideas of having a slumber party-themed get-together, and have even considered taking a road trip to New York with all of the attendees. You eventually decided to host the event at your home and to make it a lavish event. The only downside is that it’s cold as heck.

In your haste to make sure that your house is nice and warm, you turn up your thermostat way too quickly. This won’t actually warm up your home any quicker for the bachelorette party attendees. If anything you’ll wind up overheating your home with your furnace, and it’ll harm your energy savings. You don’t want your entire house to not heat up on time or be too hot for when the bachelorette party begins.

3. Thermostat won’t respond to commands.

There are some cases where your thermostat simply won’t respond to your request to turn on the hot or cold air. Try not to get frustrated that you can’t possibly heat your house to a higher temperature. There’s a good chance that the thermostat won’t respond simply because the batteries need to be changed. If this simple flix doesn’t work then it’s best to call in an HVAC specialist.

4. Thermostats have display issues.

Sometimes when you have a digital thermostat, you might not be able to see the information on the display. The screen might be faded on the digital thermostat, or the display is showing off incorrect data. This can be due to dying batteries, or other more serious reasons. If the circumstances of the display issues are much more serious than depleted batteries, seek out the services of a licensed HVAC specialist.

5. Thermostat has a build-up of dirt and debris.

If your thermostat isn’t reading your room temperature correctly, this can be due to dust or debris accumulation. Open up the thermostat case and brush away any dirt or debris. This will allow your thermostat to read the temperature of your room correctly.