Thermostats are interesting and helpful devices. They work
in coordination with your heater to help the heater know when it needs to kick
into gear or when it has done its job to heat the room. Here's how a thermostat
works.
The main switch (which determines whether to turn on the
heat or the air conditioning) is a mercury switch. This means that it has a
small tube that contains a tiny amount of liquid-metal mercury and three small
metal rods. When the switch is flipped to turn on the heat, for example, the
mercury tips to the left and comes in contact with one of the rods. This turns
on the heater.
Directly below the mercury switch is a thermometer coil. The
thermometer coil is a coil of two thin metal strips that have different
expansion and contraction rates, depending on the temperature. When the
surrounding air is heated up, one of the strips expands and pulls the mercury
switch so that the heater shuts off. Once the air begins to cool down again, it
contracts and the switch turns the heater back on to maintain the desired
temperature.
Rainforest Plumbing & Air technicians are trained to fix
or replace thermostats. Since the thermostat is an electrical device, it can
break or cease to function properly. When this happens, you can give us a call
at (480) 615-7766 to schedule an appointment right away so you can turn on the
heat!
CHANGE AIR FILTERS Make sure to inspect, clean, or change air filters once a month in your central air conditioner intake vents to reduce strain on your air handler and system.... (More Tips)
