What's acting up?
Pick the system. Answer a few questions. Get the likely cause and the right next move, in about two minutes.
No match. Try fewer words, or pick a system above.
Vent: HVAC
- AC running but blowing warm air
- AC won't turn on, or the outdoor unit isn't running
- Ice on your AC lines or coil
- AC leaking water inside the house
- Furnace blowing cold air instead of heat
- Furnace clicking but won't ignite
- Furnace keeps turning on and off
- Thermostat screen is blank
- Weak airflow from vents, or one room hotter or colder than the rest
- Heat pump not heating, or blowing cool air
Valve: Plumbing
- Faucet dripping when it's off
- Shower goes hot or cold when someone flushes
- Toilet keeps running or refills on its own
- Low water pressure at one faucet or the whole house
- No hot water from the water heater
- Shower drips when off, or the tub spout runs with the shower on
- Shower won't get hot, or gets too hot
- Faucet leaking at the base or under the handle
- Toilet flush is weak or won't flush all the way
- Water heater leaking or a puddle underneath
- Shower handle hard to turn, pull or push
Volt: Electrical
- Outlet not working, and you're not sure why
- GFCI outlet won't reset
- Breaker keeps tripping or won't reset
- Lights flickering: one fixture or the whole house?
- Light switch, dimmer or outlet warm to the touch
- Half the house lost power
- Outlet sparks or smells like burning
- Buzzing or humming from an outlet, switch or panel
- Ceiling fan not working, or the light works but the fan won't spin
- Smoke detector chirping or beeping
How it works
- Pick the system and the symptomVent for heating and cooling, Valve for plumbing, Volt for electrical. Thirty-one symptoms, chosen from what people actually search.
- Answer two to five questionsEach one is something you can check standing right there: a setting, a sound, a drip, a breaker handle. No tools needed to get an answer.
- Get the likely cause and the right next moveA fix you can do today with the exact part named, or a clear call to a pro with a checklist of what to tell them.
Built to be honest about its limits
31 troubleshooters, each one sourced from manufacturer support pages and safety agencies and listed at the bottom of the page. Instructions stop where a homeowner should stop: no refrigerant, no opening panels, no gas work. When the right answer is a licensed pro, the page says so and hands you a checklist of what to tell them.
Vent, Valve & Volt is published by the team behind FourHome, a brand of replacement faucet and shower parts sold on Amazon. When a plumbing result names a worn part, we may link our own replacement, and we say so beside it. How we make money.