Why does my air handler not work when I switched it to A/C?

John N
by John N
I have a heat pump and air handler. In the winter while my heat was on everything worked fine. Since it is heating up I switched it to A/C and the heat pump kicks on 24/7 and the air handler wont come on at all. The temp in my house will not drop to what I want it to?
  5 answers
  • KMS Woodworks KMS Woodworks on Apr 04, 2012
    Have you checked the "heat" "cool" "auto" settings on your thermostat?..fresh batteries there?
  • John N John N on Apr 04, 2012
    Yes. My inside temp says it is at 82 right now, so I will turn the cool on to 72 and the heat pump outside turns on but the air handler wont'. The heat pump outside stays on constantly and the air handler refuses to turn on. I have installed a Honeywell programmable thermostat according to the instructions for heat pumps and it is not working.
  • If you replaced the thermostat...that would be your problem. Go through the instructions again and make sure you wired everything correctly...some of the heat pumps can be tempermental and it's often best to call a professional to change out thermostats
  • KMS Woodworks KMS Woodworks on Apr 05, 2012
    most thermostat wires are "solid" wire compared to "stranded" wire. I have done some repairs were the end of the wire was broken inside the insulation just back from the end...it looked fine but was not making the circuit. On way to test for that is to "jumper" the connections and take the thermostat out of the equation.
  • Leslie D Leslie D on Apr 05, 2012
    I agree with HandyANDY. We had the same issue with the Honeywell thermostat. Installed it, heat worked fine, cooling won't turn on (ours is a forced air system, not heat pump). Put the old thermostat back on and it worked fine. If you still have the old thermostat, reinstall it and see if that's the problem before calling an HVAC person.