When the weather outside is nothing short of frightful, you’re more than thankful that you have a working HVAC system that pumps in blessed hot air, while keeping out the frigidity. But what happens when your HVAC can’t handle the cold? There are many issues that may arise that can cause your HVAC to underperform – or even breakdown – as a result of the cold North Carolina air. Your best defense against a rundown HVAC system is to protect it from the cold.

Here’s how.

Cold Air and Your Hvac Coils – The Freeze Stat

Your HVAC features a freeze stat, which prevents your coils from freezing. These freeze stats – also known as a low temperature cutout – monitors the temperature of the air blowing across coils. If your HVAC is letting in too much cold air, the freeze stat will shut the system down, thus preventing the coils from freezing.

Since your freeze stat plays such an important role in your HVAC system, you want to make sure it’s working properly. Testing your freeze stat will also give you insight into the other parts of your system, to ensure that everything’s running smoothly.

When you “trip” your freeze stat, your system should go into fail mode. When this happens:

• The outside damper should close, and the return damper should open fully (this prevents the cold outside air from entering the system and hitting the coils)
• The fan should turn off (thus stopping cold air from blowing across the coils)
• Your hot water valves open fully and the cold water valves will close

If you notice that all of these events are firing, then your freeze stat is working the way that it should be. Your coils are protected.

What Should I Do if My Freeze Stat Is Tripped?

The important thing to remember about a tripped freeze stat is that it happened for a reason. Thus, it should be investigated by a professional before you reset the stat. There is potentially an underlying issue that’s causing the cold air to hit the coils. That’s why you should contact a professional heating and cooling specialist in North Carolina.

Keep Your HVAC System Serviced

Nothing protects you from severe cold better than your HVAC system. That’s why it’s so important to have it professional serviced, which can reduce the risk of it failing when you need it the most. A highly functioning HVAC system is also less likely to have unwarranted dripping, which can lead to freezing and other unwanted effects.

There are many times when you can’t do anything to avoid an HVAC failure or breakdown, but it’s always better to be prepared for the what-ifs. Be sure that your HVAC is looked at on a regular basis, so that it’s running optimally and any potential issues are caught early on. Most homeowners and businesses throughout Sanford, Fayetteville and beyond put their trust in Comfort First to help protect (and repair) their HVAC systems after a cold snap. Contact us today to learn how we can help you stay warm, all winter long.