Honeywell Thermostat Not Blowing Cold Air [Fixed]

Is your  honeywell thermostat not blowing cold air? If so, we have got you covered because in this article we are going to look at the possible causes for this problem and what you can do about each one of them to fix the problem. All the reasons we are going to discuss in this guide also apply to any new  honeywell thermostat that is blowing hot air on cool setting.

While many of the issues we are going to be looking at in this guide are things that you can easily fix yourself, there are also other things that will require you to call a professional to come and have  the problem fixed.

Read also: White Rodgers Thermostat Blinking Snowflake [Solved]

Generally,  when a honeywell thermostat is not blowing cold air, this could be due to factors such as, thermostat settings, turned off condenser unit, little or leaking refrigerant, dirty filters thermostat wiring and a few more others that we are going to be looking at shortly in this article.

Let’s look at the chart below

Possible Reasons A Honeywell Thermostat Is Not Blowing Cold Air On Cool

POSSIBLE CAUSE	MAIN FIX
ACTIVE SAVER SWITCH	CHECK IF YOU ARE SIGNED UP FOR ACTIVE SAVER SWITCH
WRONG THERMOSTAT SETTINGS	SET THERMOSTAT TO COOL MODE
THERMOSTAT DELAY	WAIT FOR 5 MINUTES
POWER TURNED OFF/FURNACE DOOR CLOSED	TURN ON POWER OR CLOSE FURNACE DOOR
DIRTY FILTERS	REPLACE FILTERS
THERMOSTAT WIRING	PROPERLY WIRE YOUR THERMOSTAT
THERMOSTAT IS NOT CORRECTLY CONFIGURED FOR YOUR TYPE OF SYSTEM	CHECK WHETHER THERMOST IS CONFIGURED WITH YOUR TYPE OF SYSTEM
LITTLE OR LEAKING REFRIGERANT	CALL A LICENSED PROFESSIONAL

The issues  in the table above are the commonest  causes for the honeywell thermostat that is not cooling or one that is blowing hot air on cool setting.  Let’s dive into the procedure for diagnosis of this problem.

Active Saver Switch

Whenever your honeywell thermostat or heat pump is not cooling as much, you could actually be signed up for an active  saver switch with your utility company. This subscription helps you save energy but could locking your compressor and  preventing it from going to into cooling cycles  for a longer period of time

The fix

Check with your utility  company and if you are signed up, request to opt out. This should bring your system back to normal cooling

Thermostat Settings

If you have verified that you are not signed up for the active saver switch but your thermostat is still not blowing cold air,  you could have issues with your thermostat settings.  

This is one of the most overlooked issues but trust me it once happened to me. I got all the tools  ready for a really serious troubleshooting session on the air handler in the basement but the only problem which was there was, cooling was not turned on, on the thermostat.

The fix

Set your thermostat to cool and make sure that you can see a snowflake icon. Then set the temp  point to the temperature lower than the current room temperature. Wait for about 5 minutes and feel the air that starts blowing out of vents. Is the air cool? If so, congratulations because you have just fixed the problem yourself. If not let’s proceed to our next step of troubleshooting

Thermostat Delay

So, if you have set your thermostat to cool mode and  you can see ‘cool on’ or a snowflake sign flashing on the thermostat then it could be in delay mode. Delay mode is a feature on a honeywell thermostat that deliberately prevents your compressor from coming on too quickly to prevent it from short cycling.

This happens often when there was a sudden power loss to your HVAC system and you attempted to turn on the compressor again shortly.

The fix

If  your thermostat is flashing cool on, wait for 5 minutes until the delay is over. Usually the thermostat delay should not take more than 5 minutes. However, if your thermostat is not blowing cold air after the delay period, there could be issues causing this problem. Let’s go to the next step to find out more.

Power Turned Off/Furnace Door Not Closed

    Have you set your thermostat to on but your AC system is not cooling? Check  your condenser unit,  is it powered on?  You can start by checking whether the circuit breaker is turned on or off. Look specifically for a  switch labeled ac, that switch is typically assigned for the outdoor condenser unit.

The fix

If the AC breaker is  tripped, reset it and if it’s not tripped, make sure that your furnace door is properly closed.  A furnace door has a door switch that automatically cuts power to your HVAC system when the door is open or not properly  closed. Make sure the door is properly closed. 

Dirty Filters

Now, dirty filters are the common culprits for many air conditioning problems. The role of the filters is to screen out debris and pollutants from the air that gets  blown over the coil and eventually into your home.

 When filters are dirty  air flow will be restricted and your ac will not blow cold air enough as it ought. That could be the reason why you can’t feel cold air blowing out of the vents.

The fix

The solution to this problem is to simply check the status of the air filter and replace it if it’s dirty or it has been over 3 months since you made a replacement. Modern central HVAC systems are equipped with filter indicator lights which can tell you when your filter is due for a replacement depending on the number of hours it has been in use.

Thermostat Wiring

After  you have taken a look at your filter and you think there is no problem with them, you may want to look into the thermostat wiring especially if this is a new installation.

The fix

A honeywell thermostat controls the compressor and fan with the (Y and G ) terminal respectively. So make sure these wires are connected and are not loose. 

In addition if  you installed  the thermostat recently ensure that the wires  were properly mapped from the old thermostat to this new thermostat. If there are no separate wires to the Rc ( power for cooling) and Rh (power for heating terminal) , put a jumper wire between these two terminals.

Depending on your thermostat model, some thermostats might have a slide switch that will jump the wires for you. Check your manual for more help on this.

Check Whether Thermostat Is Correctly Configured For Your System

Did you know that if your thermostat is not properly configured it will not behave the way you expect it to? 

The fix

Your thermostat configuration will depend on the type of the system you have but remember that the configuration of a thermostat on single stage systems will be different from dual stage systems and can also be different from a dual fuel system. And if its heat pump  that you have,  make sure it’s also properly configured between cooling and heating.

Little Or Leaking Refrigerant

If all other issues mentioned above seem not to be the problem  you might have little or a leaking refrigerant within your AC.

A refrigerant also known as freon is a chemical that is used in air conditioning systems  to cool the air by the process of evaporation and condensation with the help of a compressor. 

You don’t want me to get into details here but the point is, when the refrigerant is leaking and there is little left in your AC, your air conditioner will not cool your home.

The fix

If you believe that  freon is leaking from your AC, it’s best to call professionals to fix this problem. There is however an easy way to find out if there are leaks in your ac system. 

This is done by pressurizing the ac lines and splashing some soapy water along them. Then  identifying the spots with bubbles.(those are the points of leaks).

I want to emphasize again, this is not a reliable method of doing things. Only use this method if there no other options available

Final thoughts

We have seen that there could be many reasons why  your thermostat  is not blowing cold air. However, the reasons discussed in this guide are the most common ones. If you have fixed the problem using the steps outlined in this article, congrats. However, if your system is not fixed, its  perhaps a good idea to call in professionals