Why is My Thermostat in Recovery Mode?

Have you ever noticed that your thermostat shows a recovery mode and tells you about it. It is a kind of setting that comes with the newer thermostats. Here’s your guide to understand your Thermostat in recovery mode.

What is Recovery Mode?

Recovery mode is a relatively new feature that has got people confused with the turning on & off their thermostat. For example after they have turned their thermostat off, it suddenly starts running and says “recovery.” Since this feature is not present on older thermostats, people often assume this means that something bad has happened to the system. However, the reality is that recovery mode is a very common and helpful setting that is mostly present on programmable thermostats. Usually, the users come up with this issue while setting up their HVAC installation.

Recovery is a feature that shows on many current brands of thermostats, starting from Honeywell to Ecobee. It should say one thing like “recovery” or “smart recovery,” or it should have a little light-weight or icon glowing on an exact part of the show, looking at your thermostat model. Once a thermostat is in recovery mode, this merely suggests that it's ill from being in associate degree energy-saving mode. Throughout the recovery mode, your thermostat is functioning towards achieving a more recent temperature that's cooler or hotter than the outer air. This implies that it will activate your HVAC system a bit once it is set to be at a special temperature.

In case if you want your air conditioner to turn itself on while you are at work in the summertime, then shortly before you return home, the thermostat will enter recovery mode to start cooling down your house.

Why Your Thermostat Switches Itself to Recovery Mode

There are many reasons why your thermostat switches itself to recovery mode. If recovery mode is enabled in your system and you have your system programmed to reach certain temperatures at certain times of day, then you can expect to see recovery mode happen in the hour or two before you have your system scheduled to be at a certain temperature. If this is the case, then it is perfectly normal and is not an issue.

However, recovery mode is a surprise as it is found only in newer thermostats. If you have not set your system to turn on and off at certain times of day, recovery mode can still happen. This usually happens due to its automatically changed settings. It also occurs in certain “smart” thermostats that adjust their settings automatically to accommodate various patterns the thermostat has noticed.

One of many reasons can also be some sort of glitch or power surge causing your thermostat to reset itself, erase your settings, and return to default settings. In some cases, your thermostat may be programmed to different settings for different dates or days of the week, which can cause recovery mode to appear seemingly at random.

A major reason for a thermostat in recovery mode is that your HVAC system might be malfunctioned. Recovery mode usually occurs when your thermostat is trying to get your HVAC system to reach a desired temperature. Therefore, it may be a sign that your air conditioner or heater is not able to keep your house as cold or warm as you want, if your HVAC system is not running as it should.

Steps to Get your Thermostat Out of Recovery Mode

Primarily, check for your thermostat’s settings if you desire to remove your thermostat from a recovery mode. For that, you will be required to navigate into the preferences area and then select to disable or turn off the recovery mode. You can check out the manual or give the manufacturer’s customer service line a call to get more guidance as few of the programmable thermostats can be a little tricky.

If you are fine with your system using recovery mode but do not want it in recovery mode at a certain time, you will need to adjust your schedule. For that you need to set your scheduled temperature for an hour or two after the time you want it to start running. This will launch recovery mode at a slightly later time, so your HVAC system will run less.

How to Know If Recovery Mode Means Something is Wrong

First of all, check your thermostat settings and ensure that it is not going into “leave” or “off” mode while you are still at home. At times, recovery mode is an entirely harmless mode that just signifies that your programmable thermostat is getting prepared to switch temperatures. However, it is important to check your system from time to time, if you keep unexpectedly seeing it in recovery mode as the recovery mode might also occur when your HVAC system is malfunctioning.

Nevertheless, if your thermostat keeps going to a sudden high or low temperature when it is not programmed to, then there might be some issue with your AC. If the fan outside is not spinning or you cannot hear the AC running, your air conditioner might be broken. It is also possible for your HVAC system to seem like it is working but actually be struggling to heat or cool your home. This often happens in an older, poorly maintained system that has problems like dirty condenser coils.

We hope that the above article helped you to know about your thermostat in recovery mode and helped you understand it.