I had the strangest thing happening to my HVAC system in the middle of last summer. Every now and then, after running for a while the air conditioning would just entirely shut off. After investigating, I realized the A/C circuit breaker was tripping. The first time it happened was during a thunderstorm, so I figured that lightning had truck nearby and caused the breaker to trip. The next time it happened was on a perfectly clear, sunny day, so I figured it must be the HVAC system itself. The next two times it happened I simply flipped it back on, but then I got to thinking. I seemed to remember that breakers are often tripped when a power overload is detected. I realized there may be something going on with my HVAC system that could be a fire hazard if not properly dealt with. The days were not getting any cooler, so I called an HVAC technician out to figure out what in the world was going on with my A/C. It turned out that a clogged air filter was the root cause of the problem. The fan motor in my HVAC system was having to work extra hard to draw cool air through the dirty air filter. It was having to run longer and draw on more and more electricity and thus the A/C circuit breaker kept tripping to prevent an overload. I felt sheepish for letting a dirty air filter cause such extensive problems with my HVAC system. If I had simply changed the air filter out with a new one like I should have, I would not have needed to make this service call. Well, now everything’s back to normal and my air conditioner is running just fine. I’m going to change the air filter far more regularly now, that’s for sure!
The different types of thermostats