[RickyG]

The Electric company came through and installed a smart meter. Now my AC does not work. Unit inside the house click on immediately when I slide the switch to cool. The fan comes on but, it blows hot air. I noticed the unit outside does not come on. Is it a coincident that this happen after the smart meter was installed or did he hook up something wrong? How can I tell without paying a service tech? Is there any I can do to check to eliminate some of the possibilities?

I am very familiar with a volt meter. The name on the unit inside the house is Westinghouse, all I can find on the outside unit is high efficiency.

I just purchase material replace the siding on my house. This is an unexpected expense that doesn’t fit in an already stressed budget.

Your help is greatly appriciated.

Thank you,

 

[gregzoll]

They screwed up wiring it, or did not set it up correctly with your HVAC set up. Call them back and have them fix it, or tell them you are pulling it and putting it in the trash, and re-installing your own non-smart thermostat.

 

[RickyG]

They screwed up wiring it, or did not set it up correctly with your HVAC set up. Call them back and have them fix it, or tell them you are pulling it and putting it in the trash, and re-installing your own non-smart thermostat.

Thank you for your input. They did not install a smart thermostat. The replaced the electric meter that they read to determine how much they should charge me for the electic service. I don't have access to that box.

 

[McSteve]

Are any circuits in your house not working?

Since you've got a voltmeter, check to make sure you have 240V. Check either at the lugs where the service wires attach to your main breaker in the panel, or at an electric dryer or range outlet. You should have 120V from each hot to ground, and 240V between the two hots.

The only thing I can think of is that the new meter is somehow seated wrong, or one of the meter jaws broke when they replaced the meter. That could cause one half of your 120V circuits, and all of your 240V circuits to be dead.

Or it could be coincidence.

 

[vsheetz]

Along with the smart meter did they install anything that also controls or times the operation of the air conditioner? This is being done by some power companies - so they can manage peak power usage on those very hot days. If so, there may be an issue with the installation or operation of that air conditioning control device.

 

[McSteve]

I forgot about that. If they also added a small box near your outside A/C unit, they are now able to remotely turn your AC on and off during peak demand times. They usually give you a discount on your bill for this. But I think they usually only turn your AC off for maybe 15-20 minutes at a time, so if it's been dead longer than that, something is wrong.

 

[RickyG]

I will check those readings. So far the ouside A/C unit is the only thing not turning on. They didn't install a smart box near the A/C and the meter is on the opposite side of the house. I believe I have seen one of those boxes on my friends house.

Thank you all for your inputs.

 

[CaptTom]

It could be a coincidence, but by all means have the power company come check that they did the install correctly, assuming that costs nothing.

Also, flip all the breakers off then back on. Sometimes one will trip but it's not obvious by looking at it.

After that it's time to investigate the cooling system, starting with the outside condenser unit that's not coming on. It could be as simple as a bad capacitor on the fan motor.

 

[rogerwh]

The Smart Meter is just a digital meter that communicates with the electric company, monitoring your electric use. It just replaced the Meter Reader. The meter just plugs into the meter base. If your problem started right after they installed the meter, it could be they cause a current surge that screwed up something in your AC control. That would especially happen if the AC was running when they replaced the meter. You need to call the electric company and explain your problem.

 

[supers05]

The box is called... .

It... .

The .... .

This is an 11 year old thread. You guys are a bit late. Mods please lock it.

Cheers!

 

[CaptTom]

Darn! I missed the date on the posts. Sorry!