4 PROVEN Ways To Reset Your Air Conditioner

If you recently had any issues with your air conditioning unit and want to reset your air conditioner, I’ll show you a few different methods you can use.

It depends a lot on your air conditioner model, but I’ve listed them from the easiest one to the hardest one.

Before sharing these proven-to-work methods with you, let’s first cover why you should reset your AC in the first place.

Why Do I Need to Reset My Air Conditioner?

The biggest reason why you need to reset your air conditioner is that the protection circuit breaker in your unit kicks in and that usually happens after a power outage.

A second most common reason is that your air conditioner might be blowing warm air even if you set it to cooling. 

This has a lot to do with the heat pump not working properly.

Although some problems might need professional help, there were a ton of situations where simply hard resetting my unit helped me.

Let’s proceed to the best ways to reset your air conditioner.

Proven Ways To Reset Your AC Unit

1. Using the reset button

This is the easiest and most convenient way to reset any AC unit.

However, before restarting your unit, make sure there’s a proper supply of power. You should never reset the air conditioner if there’s not enough power to turn it on again.

Some older units might have a reset switch instead of a button which is usually located in your outdoor unit.

2. Reset the circuit breaker

If the reset button didn’t work for you, this is the next easiest way to hard reset any unit.

The breaker box is usually located in your basement, around the front door, or somewhere else, it doesn’t really matter.

Once you open the breaker box, simply find the switch that’s labeled as “AC” and switch it off.

Now, switch it back on. This should restart your air conditioner.

Note: Don’t try turning off and on switches multiple times if your AC didn’t restart, it will do more harm than good.

3. Use the isolator switch

Most air conditioners have an isolator switch around the main electrical supply.

In most cases, it’s located near the outdoor unit and it protects your air conditioning system from electrical outages.

If you have trouble finding it, it’s usually a lever on a V-socket near the condenser.

Once you’ve found it, you should turn it off and wait half an hour before turning it back on.

4. Thermostat method

If none of the above methods worked for you, you should reset your thermostat. It might be the case that your thermostat is defective and that is sending signals to your AC unit to stop working.

The reset button on the thermostat is usually under the cover, so simply hold it for five seconds and it should restart.

One of the most advanced thermostats is Google Nest which I personally use and recommend to everyone.