White-Rodgers Thermostat Not Responding? (We Have a Fix!)
White-Rodgers is a company that’s pretty well known for being reliable, especially when it comes to its selection of thermostats. Though they generally work well, there are always times when things don’t go as planned. If you notice your thermostat acting unresponsive, you might have a problem on your hand. But, what’s going on?
Most unresponsive thermostats are due to a problem related to power, such as dead batteries, bad wiring, or a short that affected the wiring in the thermostat. Of course, an unresponsive thermostat can also be caused by power outages or a tripped breaker in your home.
Trying to troubleshoot a thermostat that isn’t responsive can be a little tricky, but don’t worry. With the right guide, it’ll be a cinch.
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Why Isn’t My White-Rodgers Thermostat Not Responsive?
Tap and poke all you want, but that thermostat doesn’t seem to want to budge. Sound familiar? Let’s troubleshoot it. To make your process easier, we’re going to go from the easiest to solve to the hardest. Let’s hit the troubleshooting trail.
Turn On Your Thermostat
If you recently had a power outage, there’s a chance that your thermostat lost too much power. Try to turn it on. If it turns on, then that was the problem all along. You just forgot to turn it on again, or you had someone turn it off while you weren’t looking. It’s a thing that can happen, especially if you have kids.
Check Your Battery
Batteries are a must if you want to have a functional White-Rodgers thermostat, and sadly, we often forget to refresh them. If you recently had some alerts telling you to change your battery, then chances are that you just ran out of juice. This means that you are going to have to add new batteries inside your thermostat.
Look For Power Outages
In order for your thermostat to be fully responsive, it has to have power running to it. The same can be said about most other portions of your HVAC system in your home. If you’re in the middle of a power outage due to extreme weather or a fallen pole, then you are not going to be able to have any sort of response come from your thermostat.
Unfortunately, most power outages are not within your control. This means that you are going to have to wait until your municipal electrical company fixes whatever the issue is. If you want to speed things along, you might want to call your electric company to report the outage. The squeaky wheel gets the oil.
Tripped Breaker
If you have power in other parts of your home but don’t see a response from your thermostat, then you might have a tripped breaker. This just means that your electric flow has been overloading your circuits. Your circuit breaker stepped in and broke the circuit so you don’t end up with a short.
The fix for this is pretty simple. You will need to go over to your breaker box and flip the breaker switch. If this happens a lot, you might want to unplug some of the appliances that are in your room. This will make the electrical burden in your specific room less, and hopefully, end the spate of breaker trips you’ve been having.
In some cases, frequently tripped breakers could be a sign of a latent problem with your home’s electrical wiring. If you have any reason to believe that you may have a problem with your electrical grid, contact an electrician immediately. This is a major house fire risk and should never be ignored.
Faulty Wiring Connection
We already know that thermostats have batteries, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only power source they have. Thermostats also get some of their electricity from the wiring they’re connected to. In modern thermostats, you won’t just get power from the battery. It also will be from the C-wire, or “common wire.”
If your thermostat requires a C-wire to work, then check to see if your C-wire is actually connected to your thermostat. Sometimes, it’s really just a matter of a quick tweak behind the thermostat.
Bad Fuse
White-Rodgers thermostats come with fuses that are inside of the thermostat. Much like with the fuses you’d find in an old-school fuse box, the thermostat’s fuse is there to help prevent short circuits. If your fuse blew, then your thermostat will be unresponsive until you replace it with a new one.
In order to figure out if this is the issue, you will have to open up your White-Rodgers thermostat and look at the fuse. (You can usually find instructions on how to do this on the net by searching up your particular model.) If the fuse is cloudy, hark, or otherwise looks “crispy,” you need to replace the fuse.
A Shorted Wire In The Thermostat
White-Rodgers has a bunch of different security features in all of their thermostats, and most of them are there to prevent short circuits from happening. Unfortunately, you never have a 100 percent safety record on these things. Short circuits can still happen.
If you recently had a major power surge, had a house fire, or recently experienced flooding, you may have a shorted wire in your thermostat. Though major weather problems are a common reason for a short, this can also happen on its own. Either way, the outcome is the same. Should this be the case, you have to write off the thermostat as DOA.
There is no fix for a thermostat that has a shorted wire aside from replacing the entire thermostat. So, maybe it’s time to go shopping?
When Should You Call A Professional?
For the most part, this is not the kind of problem that you would need to call a professional to fix. The vast majority of issues that could affect your thermostat this way are minor, such as turning it on or even replacing a fuse inside of it. Even replacing the whole thermostat unit should be a DIY endeavor in most cases.
However, there is one major exception that I want to emphasize here: your home’s electrical wiring. If you have any reason to believe that there is something wrong with your electrical wiring in your home, you should call a professional as soon as possible.
Should You Call White-Rodgers’s Customer Support?
Believe it or not, you might want to do this. If you recently got your thermostat and haven’t been able to get it to work properly, calling the customer support line is a smart move. Depending on when your thermostat died, you might be able to get a replacement free of charge.
This is particularly true if it’s under warranty. Warrantied units will get a repair or a replacement, guaranteed. With everything else, it might be a “hit or miss” issue. For what it’s worth, most stores will allow you to return a thermostat that was purchased within 14 days. Some will have a return policy as long as one month.
How Long Should A White-Rodgers Thermostat Last?
Like with most other smart thermostats, you shouldn’t expect to replace your thermostat any time soon. Rather, you should expect them to last a minimum of 10 years. If you have a smart thermostat, then you may notice a little bit of lagging on the app. Thankfully, most smart thermostat makers have a plan to keep these thermostats supported via apps.
Do You Need Your Thermostat Repaired or Reprogrammed?
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Related Questions
What kind of batteries do White-Rodgers thermostats use?
This all varies depending on the exact model of thermostat that you have. Most of the White-Rodgers thermostats on the market will use a couple of AA or AAA batteries. To find out what type of batteries your particular thermostat uses, it’s best to go online and check your unit’s manual. You can find it by searching up the specific model online.
Who makes White-Rodgers thermostats?
White-Rodgers thermostats are a separate brand of thermostats that’s owned by another major thermostat making company. If you have ever heard of Emerson, then you know the parent company of White-Rodgers. Emerson has owned the White-Rodgers name since the early 1960s, so this is not anything new.With that said, White-Rodgers is not the only thermostat brand that is actually owned by Emerson. If you have a Sensi or Therm-O-Disc thermostat, then you also have a thermostat from the Emerson family. They are just made under different labels and have slightly different designs.
Are White-Rodgers thermostats good?
White-Rodgers thermostats are considered to be excellent quality by most home improvement companies and reviewers. You can expect your thermostat to last for 12 years, due to the fact that they are made to the highest standard of quality.People who want to have a thermostat that’s awarded for its excellent energy efficiency will want one. Oh, and if you are looking for a bargain price? Well, technically these are considered to be bargain priced. Needless to say, people regularly buy them when they want to have more bang for their proverbial buck.
Ossiana Tepfenhart is an expert writer, focusing on interior design and general home tips. Writing is her life, and it's what she does best. Her interests include art and real estate investments.
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