Summer weather in Northern Virginia is notorious for strong thunderstorms. If lightning strikes a power line or a tree falls on a line near your home, you could lose electricity — which means your air conditioning will go off. You may have to be hot for a while during the outage, but once the power comes back on, your AC should start working again. If it doesn’t, follow the steps below to learn how to reset the air conditioner after a power outage.
Turn Your Air Conditioning Off
There’s a switch on your thermostat that probably says ON, FAN, or OFF. Set it on the OFF position.
Head to The Breaker Box
Your circuit breaker box is either in the basement, in the garage, in a laundry room or a closet. It’s a grey metal box with a door on it.
Find the Tripped Circuit Breaker
The power surge may have overloaded your air conditioner’s circuit, causing a breaker to trip. If you experience your air conditioner not turning on, open the breaker box and find the circuit with an air conditioner or HVAC label next to it. Or if you don’t see a label, find the switch that has moved to the neutral position. Reset it by turning it to the “off” position (right), then to the “on” position (left).
Be Patient and Wait a Half Hour
Your air conditioner takes a while to reset its internal circuit breaker. Drink something cold, wet some cold rags…whatever you have to do to stay cool for a while.
Turn the Thermostat Switch to ON
When you flip that switch, you should hear the AC kick on and cool air should start flowing out of vents. If you don’t, there may be a problem.
Call Snell Heating and Air Conditioning For Help
If the ac unit won’t turn on after a power outage after following these steps, give us a call by phone at (703) 543-9649 or schedule an appointment online to receive assistance.