What is happening in the case that you find that your air conditioner fan is still running even though the unit is off, and how to troubleshoot this issue.
Do you have an air conditioner in your home and have noticed that whenever you seem to have turned it off, your fan somehow will remain on and running? This could be a sign of a number of things that you might need to check to find out why it is doing this, as it is not supposed to be.
Understanding how a fan is actually supposed to work can also help diagnose the problem and you can figure out how to fix it.
What are the reasons for the fan running with the air conditioner turned off?
There could be a number of reasons as to why your air conditioners fan keeps running even while the unit is turned off. It could be that the fan is switched on in the settings. When the fan is set to on, it will remain on until it is switched to off and will keep running.
You can also set it to the auto setting so that it is only set to run when the air conditioner is on. So, should the unit be switched off, the fan will also stop running when it reaches the desired temperature.
If the fan remains running after the unit is turned off, this could also mean that the air conditioner might be too small or not able to correspond with the settings. When the unit is too small it will not run adequately, and this will result in the fan and blower running constantly as the unit is trying to keep up with the thermostat settings.
What’s more, is if the area you are living in is experiencing extreme climates, your air conditioner might be struggling to reach the desired temperature meaning the whole system as well as the fan will be running longer when it should not be.
Another culprit to blame can also be a malfunctioning thermostat. If the thermostat is struggling to pick up the inside temperature then the fan, and the cooling system will keep running even when they should not be. In this case you will need to get a new thermostat.
A short circuit or an out of order relay switch can also be a cause. This could be preventing the thermostat settings from being sent to the fan to let it know it needs to stop running when the unit has turned off.
How can you troubleshoot this issue?
In order to remedy the issue of your fan running even when the air conditioning unit is turned off, you might need to call in a professional to come and have a look and determine what the cause of this is.
There are however other ways for you as the home owner to look into for troubleshooting and there are some steps you will need to follow.
You will need to change the fan settings to auto. Check to see if the fan is set to on and resort to change this by switching it to auto, so that the fan is only running when the air conditioner is turned on.
In the case that your fan still does not turn off, you will need to turn the fan switch to off and then back to auto again. This could mean that the thermostat needs to be replaced and only a qualified technician is able to replace your thermostat with a new one.
You will want to set up an HVAC maintenance in the case that you have attempted all of the above steps, and finally consider getting your unit completely replaced if need be.
How is your fan supposed to normally work?
The blower fan will work together with your heating and cooling units, but it is its own electrical system. Your blower fan is what works to pull the uncomfortable air out of your home and send it straight to the air conditioner for it to be able to be released back out into the home.
The thermostat is the component that will tell the separate systems to work together. During normal running, when the thermostat is set to auto, it will tell the blower fan and the other cooling components to switch on or off simultaneously when the set temperature has been reached.
The only time a blower fan should be running on its own is if the thermostat switch is set to on to have the fan run. So, your AC fan should not be running while the AC is off.