Here is a simple checklist to follow.
1. Is there electrical power to the house? Believe it or not we get 2 or 3 calls a year where we show up only to find out the house has no power.
2. Check the filter. The airflow for your AC or Heat is very important. Filters should be changed regularly, if they are not changed, the restriction of air will cause the unit to not operate properly.
3. Check the batteries in the thermostat. If a thermostat isn’t lit up, change the batteries.
4. Check the breaker at the breaker box. Most people still call it a fuse box but there have not been fuses installed in house in years. If you do have a ‘fuse box’ consider upgrading. If the breaker is ‘tripped’, reset the breaker. However, breakers trip for safety reasons and if this occurs again have someone look into the real problem. Most of the time the breaker isn’t the problem. It’s something in the circuit pulling more electricity than it should.
5. Check the switch on the indoor unit.
6. Do you have a propane furnace? Check to see if your propane tank is empty.
7. Do you have an oil furnace? Check to see if your oil tank is empty.
8. Check the disconnect at the outdoor unit. There should be a disconnect switch at the outdoor unit. Make sure it is plugged in or flipped on. Again, be very careful as this 240 Volt electricity to the outdoor section of an AC and it is very dangerous.
9. Do you have AC? Believe it or not, we’ve had a few calls from people scheduling an AC repair when they do not have an AC system