The Dangers of Messing Around With your HVAC’s Pre-Programmed Settings

When the thermostat does not respond in the way that it should, most people’s first thought is that there must be a setting that needs adjusting. While this is certainly true sometimes, it is also the case, especially in a commercial space like an office, that messing around with the settings can be harmful.

Flying too close to the sun

Suppose it is July, and your office building thermostat will not go below 25 degrees. Nobody has resolved the issue after 3 weeks, and everybody is suffering. Maybe you decide take down the make and model number of the thermostat, and do some Googling. You read on one forum that this thermostat is known to cause problems because there are seasonal temperature settings that do not allow for manual adjustment. You watch a tutorial video on how to override these and give it a try the next day. The override seems to have worked. The temperature is at 18 and you feel like a hero. Everything is normal for a while, but then in early November it starts to get cold. Everyone begins to notice that the room temperature will not go warmer than 13 degrees. This is a big problem.

It’s not always what it seems

Remember that override you did on the thermostat in the summer? It turns out that you were not overriding a previously programmed setting, but a failsafe feature. Upon inspection it is discovered that a bunch of the filters were clogged with drywall dust. During the previous spring there was a major renovation happening in one of the adjacent suites. Some of the drywall dust got into the ducts and settled into your side of the ductwork and got captured by your filters. When the temperature would not go below 25 degrees it was because the system sensed that the temperature was not responding to the air conditioner’s output and defaulted to 25 degrees as a failsafe. When this was overridden, the air conditioner could not sustain the elevated outputs, and burned itself out.                

Now the whole air conditioner must be replaced. This is not covered under warranty because it was not operated correctly. Had the annual inspection gone ahead as scheduled, the clogged filters would have been spotted and replaced. Why did the operator fail to recognize the clogged filter symbol flashing and act accordingly, instead of performing the override? He didn’t know. The technicians always took care of that. He was just looking for a quick fix to keep the tenant happy.

The benefits of using the professionals

Don’t put yourself in this situation. Always have the professionals come and inspect things regularly. There is the possibility that something could disrupt your system’s performance, and it is not always obvious when this has occurred. It is very easy for an operator to do a great amount of damage with the simple push of a button. This is an example of how internet tutorials can be harmful. They often do not give you the full picture. At least if you call the professionals, they can give you a more complete one.