House hot or cold? Smart checks first.
Tell us cool vs heat and what system you have. Then six field checks, including Fan AUTO to ON for the indoor blower. Some you can fix in ten minutes. Some mean we roll.
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Start
What is the house doing?
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System
What kind of system?
Look outside. One box + indoor air handler is a split. A skinny wall cassette is a mini-split. A furnace in the closet plus an outdoor AC is gas + AC.
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1 of 5
Is the thermostat screen on?
Look at the wall control. Numbers and words should be lit. A dead black screen is a different job than “it’s on Cool and still hot.”
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1 of 5
Thermostat on the right mode?
Cool if the house is hot. Heat if it is cold. Setpoint at least 3° past room temp.
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2 of 5
Does the blower come on if you switch Fan from AUTO to ON?
This is the low-voltage split. Fan ON only asks the indoor blower to run on G. You are not calling for cooling yet.
If it does not come on, the issue is usually in the air handler. If it does come on, indoor 24V is usually good and a no-cool is more often the condenser.
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3 of 5
Both breakers on?
Indoor air handler and outdoor unit. Mini-splits often have a disconnect at the outdoor box. Flip fully off, then on once.
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4 of 5
Ice on the copper lines or outdoor coil?
Furnace trying to light?
Big insulated suction line at the air handler, or frost on outdoor fins. Ice means stop cooling.
Gas furnace: inducer hum, then click, then flame. Heat pump in heat: outdoor unit should run, maybe a defrost steam cloud.
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5 of 5
Outdoor fan spinning?
Stand outside. Call for cool or heat. Give it a minute. Dead quiet + no spin is a common capacitor / contactor job. Mini-split: outdoor fan and compressor both.
Blank thermostat screen — check power, not the outdoor unit
A dead screen means the wall control lost 24V or its own batteries. The condenser is not the first stop.
- Batteries. Many digital stats take AA/AAA. Pull them, wait 30 seconds, put in fresh ones. If it only runs on batteries, dead cells = black screen.
- Air-handler / furnace breaker. Indoor unit feeds most stats through the red R wire. Flip that breaker fully off, then on once. Also check the pull-out disconnect at the air handler.
- Float switch. Condensate pan or drain line switch. When the pan fills, it opens the 24V circuit and the stat goes blank or the system will not start. Look for a small switch on the drain, a cap on the primary drain, or a clip on the side of the pan. Clear the drain / dump the pan, then wait a minute. This is one of the most common “dead stat / dead AC” calls in Middle Tennessee humidity.
- Air-handler door switch. Door not seated kills control power. Shut it tight.
- Wi-Fi / smart stat. App dead and screen dead usually means it lost C-wire power, not the wifi password.
- Gas smell or burning. Leave. Gas company first, then us.
If the screen comes back, run the rest of the checks. If it stays black after batteries + breaker + drain look, call or send a photo of the stat and the air-handler switch.
Fix the thermostat first
Set Cool or Heat. Move the setpoint 3°. Wait five minutes. Heat pump in winter must be on Heat, not Emergency Heat unless you were told.
Blower stayed off. Stay on the air handler.
Fan AUTO to ON did not start the indoor blower. That usually means low voltage or the air handler — transformer, board, G/fan relay, blower motor or capacitor, door switch, or indoor 24V wiring. Do not start at the outdoor unit.
Reset once. If it trips again, stop.
That is a short or a locked compressor. Do not keep flipping it. Photo of the panel helps.
Thaw it. Do not keep running cool.
Thermostat Off or Fan On only. Hours, not minutes. Running an iced coil is how compressors die. Then new filter, then call.
Furnace / heat-pump heat is not lighting off
Gas smell: leave and call the gas company, then us. No smell, just click-lockout: igniter, flame sensor, or board. Heat pump that sits quiet in heat: same truck as a dead outdoor unit. Don’t keep cycling it.
Outdoor is running. Still a truck job if the air is wrong.
Spin + no cold (or no heat) is charge, TXV, reversing valve, or indoor blower. Not a DIY top-off.
We’re rolling.
Dead outdoor fan with a live thermostat is capacitor / contactor / motor. Don’t stick a screwdriver in the fan. Photo of the outdoor data plate speeds the truck.
Call 931-682-6969 Text us Photo the data plate ChatGPT Grok Google AI
Pick the AI you already use. Checks are in the prompt. Second opinion only — Eskimo still rolls on 931-682-6969.
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Published answers
Why is my thermostat screen blank?
A dead thermostat screen is a power problem, not the outdoor unit. Check batteries, the indoor air-handler breaker and disconnect, the condensate float switch on the drain pan, the air-handler door switch, and C-wire power on a Wi-Fi stat. Gas smell: leave and call the gas company. Spring Hill and Columbia humidity trips float switches often.
Should my thermostat be on Cool or Heat?
Cool if the house is hot. Heat if it is cold. Move the setpoint at least 3 degrees past room temperature. Heat pumps in winter should be on Heat, not Emergency Heat, unless a tech told you otherwise.
Fan ON does not start the indoor blower. What does that mean?
The issue is usually at the air handler: transformer, control board, G/fan relay, blower motor or capacitor, door switch, or 24-volt wiring. Do not start at the condenser.
The HVAC breaker keeps tripping. What should I do?
Reset once. If it trips again, stop. That is a short or a locked compressor. Call Eskimo Brothers at 931-682-6969. A photo of the panel helps.
There is ice on the AC lines. Can I keep running it?
No. Set the thermostat Off or Fan On only and let it thaw for hours. Running an iced coil can kill the compressor. Then call Eskimo Brothers.
The furnace clicks but will not light.
Gas smell: leave and call the gas company, then Eskimo. No smell: igniter, flame sensor, or board. A heat pump that sits quiet in heat is the same truck as a dead outdoor unit.
The outdoor AC fan is not spinning.
Dead outdoor fan with a live thermostat is often a capacitor, contactor, or fan motor. Do not stick a screwdriver in the fan. Call or text 931-682-6969 and send a data-plate photo.
The outdoor fan is spinning but the house is still hot.
That is often refrigerant charge, TXV, reversing valve, or indoor blower. Not a DIY top-off. Eskimo Brothers will look at it on site.