What to do when the Room Air Conditioner Doesn't Turn On ?

On a sunny hot day you are back from home and you switch ON your room air conditioner to get cooled and you find either the air conditioner doesn’t turn on or it doesn’t cool. I am not sure about you but I will certainly get mad in this situation.

Let us now discuss troubleshooting some of these most common room air conditioner problems and solution:


Room air conditioners consume a lot of electrical power. This can lead to less than optimum performance or even complete failure of the system. If your room air conditioner doesn’t turn on:

1.) Be sure the unit is plugged in and turned on properly.
2.) Check if the outlet of the AC is working by unplugging the air conditioner and plugging in a light that works (NOTE: do not plug a light into a 220/240-volt receptacle).

3.) If the light doesn’t go on, the circuit has probably overloaded. You need to check the electric panel or fuse box and reset the breaker or replace the fuse if required.

4.) If the light works, it’s likely that the air conditioner’s switch is faulty or the thermostat needs some adjustment or needs some repairing.

5.) Be sure the thermostat is set to “cool” and is below room temperature.

6.) Always refer to the manufacturer’s instructions (repair and care manual) for thermostat repair. If adjusting or repairing the thermostat doesn’t solve the problem then unplug the unit and call an air conditioner technician. If your air conditioner is under warranty, call the customer care of the company.