A Complete Troubleshooting Guide of When the Honeywell Thermostat Not Working.
If you have a Honeywell thermostat at home, you have probably realized that it is a great way to keep your home comfortable.
Honeywell is among the best producers of thermostats. Its products are durable and dependable. However, like many other home appliances, your Honeywell thermostat may malfunction once in a while.
Sometimes the HVAC system may stop working properly or its display screen may go blank. Actually, there are many reasons why your Honeywell thermostat not working. We will try to highlight most of them here.
In this guide, we will walk you through how to troubleshoot different thermostat problems. In most cases, you can fix these problems by yourself. However, for selected cases, you might need expert assistance. Let’s get started.
What Type of Honeywell Thermostat Do I Have?
Honeywell produced three types of thermostats. Generally, the type of your thermostat is indicated on the thermostat ID card that usually comes with your thermostat.
But if you are unsure of what model of Honeywell thermostat you have in your home, check for these small pointers.
Manual
If you have an older thermostat that is either square or round and you control your temperature by moving a small lever or adjusting the knob, then what you have is a manual thermostat.
These Honeywell thermostats are not common nowadays.
Programmable
A programmable thermostat usually has a digital screen and buttons that you use to adjust the temperature.
A programmable thermostat allows you to set daily programs to increase the temperature when you are in the house and decrease it when you are away.
Another point that you have a programmable thermostat is if it doesn’t come with a companion app.
Smart
With a smart thermostat, you won’t have to schedule any program because it studies your routine.
It intuitively lowers and raises the room temperature when people are away, helping you save on energy bills. Besides, a smart thermostat has a companion app.
Honeywell Thermostat Not Working: Common Problems
Honeywell thermostats have an exclusive group of codes that match common problems. The main solution to these problems lies in diagnosing the issue.
The good thing is that diagnosing a thermostat is uncomplicated. That said, here are some common thermostat issues:
Display Is Blank
One of the common problems with why Honeywell thermostat not working is a blank screen. Your thermostat’s screen may go black due to these reasons:
- Disrupted power
- Drained batteries
- Disconnected C-wire
- Open furnace door
To fix this problem, ensure that your power wiring is connected if you have a manual or smart thermostat. For programmable thermostats, try replacing the batteries.
After that, you can check if the power is flowing through the air handler or furnace. Also, make sure all the air handler or furnace cabinet panels are tightly fixed. Sometimes, a loose panel may disconnect the power to the unit.
If the problem persists, you might need to replace your thermostat. The issue with blank displays is that it cannot be fixed by troubleshooting.
HVAC Unit Doesn’t Work
Sometimes HVAC may also have issues such as sending out cool air in heat mode or the system not responding. In either case, you don’t need to panic. Just ensure that your thermostat is set to ‘heat’ or ‘cool’ and not off.
During summer, make sure to schedule the thermostat below the ambient temperature. In winter, set it higher. This may sound common knowledge but it is a common cause of HVAC problems.
Another issue that may cause the HVAC system to malfunction is the furnace cabinet doors or the air handler panel. An open panel or door may trigger the safety switch, thus diverting the current.
If all these attempts fail to get the HVAC system to work, check if the circuit breakers are not flipped. If that is the case, reset the circuit breaker. Also, verify that your HVAC system isn’t experiencing error codes.
Heat On or Cool On Is Blinking
The ‘Heat On’ and ‘Cool On’ indicators show that the system is functioning. When your thermostat is off, these indicators will not display. But if the ‘Cool On’ or ‘Heat On’ indicator is blinking, then you can give your thermostat a few minutes to recover.
Usually, your thermostat is in a five-minute delay state. It is a built-in feature called a ‘compressor protection timer’. It protects your system from damaging short cycling. In most cases, it happens when you lose power.
How to Troubleshoot Honeywell Thermostat Not Working
If your Honeywell thermostat not working for some reason, you can try the following troubleshooting techniques:
Change the Batteries
This is the easiest and most obvious solution. Sometimes, your thermostat may stop working because the batteries are dead.
So, if you have a programmable Honeywell thermostat, you can replace your old batteries with a new set. When you replace the batteries, you are also resetting your system settings to their factory settings, eliminating any issue that may have been caused by software bugs.
Before you replace the batteries, you need to observe these precautions:
- First, go to the circuit breaker and power off the thermostat.
- Next, access the battery compartment. In most cases, it is located on the side for easier access.
- But if that is not the case, you should detach the thermostat from the wall plate. You do so by disconnecting every wire that is connected to your thermostat and then removing the thermostat from the wall plate.
- Remove the old batteries from the battery compartment and wait for about five minutes.
- Insert the new batteries in the proper alignment.
- Reconnect the wires and put the thermostat back on the wall plate.
- Finally, turn on the system and see if the thermostat boots up. You may need to wait for five minutes. If it does, you will have resolved the issue.
Check for Power Disruptions
One of the major concerns that triggers thermostat issues is power connectivity problems. Sometimes can be disrupted for many reasons, including broken wires.
So, you may want to check your circuit breaker to ensure that there is power flowing through your thermostat.
Make sure there are no breakages in the wiring and power is flowing through the thermostat. If that is not the case, you can flip the circuit breaker to restore power.
After that, listen for a click sound. If the thermostat doesn’t turn on, you can relook at the circuit breaker again. The circuit breaker could be overloaded.
For this reason, you can change how you connect your devices to power to ensure that the circuit breaker doesn’t trip. An electrician may come in handy in this case.
On top of this, ensure that the furnace cabinet door or the air handler panel/door is closed. The reasons why the Honeywell thermostat not working could be either of the openings.
Usually, Honeywell systems have a safety feature that activates when furnace cabinet or air handler doors are not closed properly or are open.
Fix Blinking ‘Cool On’ or ‘Heat On’ Light
A ‘Cool On’ light may blink if the system is kickstarting and the system has engaged the safety timer to prevent the compressor from malfunctioning.
If that is the case, you can just wait for five minutes for the safety feature to turn off automatically. But if it fails to turn off, perform these steps:
- Lower your temperature settings to the lowest limit. Also, set the fan to auto.
- Check if the battery low indicator is active
- Make sure the thermostat timer is off
- Ensure all the furnace cabinet openings are closed
- Check if there is anything that choked the AC filter
- Make sure that the AC coil is clean
- Reset your system to its original mode by changing the battery or using the factory reset option in the menu.
Perform the same troubleshooting steps for cases of a ‘Heat On’ light that blinks for more than five minutes.
Reset Your Thermostat to Factory Settings
If everything else fails, your next course of action is to reset your device to factory settings. The goal is to completely erase any bad information or bugs that the system picks up along the way.
Sadly, each device type has unique steps for resetting the thermostat to factory settings. Depending on the model of your device, follow the steps below to reset your thermostat to its original settings:
- Honeywell 4000 series: Make sure the thermostat is on and then press the Program button for several seconds and release it. Your thermostat should reset to factory settings.
- Honeywell 6000 series: Turn on your thermostat and press and hold the Fan button together with the Up arrow for about five seconds. After that, hold the button on the bottom left until it displays 39. Next, engage the down arrow until it reads 0. Finally, press done to complete the reset process.
- Honeywell 7000 series: For these thermostats, you need to remove the batteries and insert them back in the opposite direction for about five minutes. After that, remove and put it the right way and turn on the device.
- Honeywell 8000 series: Press and hold down the blank button for about five seconds. It will show an option for resetting to factory settings. Choose this option to complete the reset process.
Call In the Experts
If you have tried troubleshooting your faulty thermostats and still having challenges, consider seeking professional assistance.
A trained technician can quickly troubleshoot and fix common issues, such as malfunctioning capacitors, damaged wirings, blown fuses, and obstructed sensors.
He or she will also inspect components like the condenser, compressor, or fan motor.
Summary
If your Honeywell thermostat not working chances are that the HVAC system is not responding, the screen is blank, or the ‘Cool On’ or ‘Heat On’ light is blinking.
The good thing is that these issues are easy to troubleshoot. Just follow the steps outlined for each problem to ensure that the problem never repeats.
However, if you are unable to resolve the issue after various trials, we recommend that you consult a professional to help you out.
