You’ve set your home’s temperature to a reasonable temperature, but your house is still freezing. Now you that to ask yourself why is the room temperature different than thermostat? In this post, I am going to share with you why and what you can do about it.
There are many potential reasons why is the room temperature different than thermostat, so let us look into what can cause this situation and the steps you can take to fix it.
Issues with the thermostat
Bad thermostat
The first reason that might cause the difference in temperature could be that the thermostat itself is not working.
Things to Check First When Your Thermostat Isn’t Working
Before you call an electrician to diagnose why your thermostat is failing to keep your home’s rooms at the set temperature, try a few of these quick tips to see if you can solve the issue yourself.
Make sure your thermostat has power. Some thermostats have batteries in them that die on occasion. Swap out the battery and see if that corrects your thermostat readings.
Heat Limits
Sometimes homeowners can set up the temperature limit too high or too low and the HVAC system will not have enough power to reach those extreme settings, verify the setting on your thermostat, and if they are too high or too low change accordingly.
Size or number of thermostats
If you have a large house one thermostat will not be able to control the temperature of the whole house, this will result in some areas having different temperatures than the one is was set on the thermostat. Each zone should have its own thermostat to allow consistent cooling throughout.
Thermostat Location
Your thermostat must be on an interior wall that’s in the center of your home and away from direct sunlight. There must also be good airflow and no sources of extra humidity nearby for it to do its job. If your thermostat placement doesn’t fit these parameters, it can result in problems.
Thermostat is dirty
If you have a thermostat for a long time or in the area where the dust can reach it very easily it might get dirty, if that is the case, all you need to do is to open the thermostat and with a dry clean cloth clean it.
If you have a Honeywell thermostat, you can read how to remove the back cover here.
Problems with the system
Your HVAC system isn’t sized properly
Another problem that can cause your room temperature different from than thermostat is if your home’s HVAC system isn’t sized properly.
If the HVAC system is oversized the system will cool down some of the rooms in your house and it will shut down and this is the problem.
On the other hand, if your HVAC is undersized it may not even be powerful enough to cool the house down to what the thermostat is set to.
Your System is Failing
Issues like clogged air filters and debris around your heat pump can reduce the effectiveness of your HVAC system. As a result, the specified temperature is not being hit.
One of the components in the HVAC system may be malfunctioning, or the fan ducts/pipes could be too dirty to pump enough air. Closely observe each component and see if they turn on, blink, or show any abnormalities.
If this is the case my recommendation would be to call the HVAC technician so that they can diagnose your system and figure out what is the issue and fix it for you.
Problems with the environment
There is a chance that nothing is wrong with your thermostat or air conditioner. Instead, the environment itself could be a factor. Most air conditioners can only cool a house by about 20 degrees.
For example, if the outside temperature is 100 degrees and you set your thermostat at 70 degrees, the room temperature reading will be higher than the setting, this is because the air conditioner is not able to cool the environment that lower.
This problem happens a lot in hotter locations, if this is the cause upgrading the HVAC system will not help you to solve the issue, what you can do is to improve a system’s efficiency by adjusting your insulation and stopping heat from getting in.
Conclusion
That is it, now you know why is the room temperature different than thermostat and also we discussed some of the things you can do to fix the situation. If you have a specific question for your model let us know in the comment section below.