Air Conditioning - Bad thermostat?

Yesterday, came home and tried to turn on my A/C (haven't used it in weeks due to cooler weather) and it didn't turn on. I have the old-timey manual thermostat (probably 2 yrs old) and normally when I move the needle down to the 75 degree mark, it sparks and clicks, and then the A/C turns on. Yesterday, no spark, no click.

I flipped the breaker in the garage (for the A/C) and outside by the unit. My outside unit doesn't have any reset button or anything that pulls out like a fuse.

No change in the A/C, so I went to the store and got a new thermostat, which I'm hoping will fix the problem.....am I on the right track?

Also, when replacing the thermostat, do I just turn off the power to the A/C or do I have to turn off the power to the living room, which is where the thermostat is located?

Any help you can provide is greatly appreciated, because I am basically all thumbs when it comes to handy-man stuff like this!

Regards,
lauren

If you turn off the power to the inside air handler, do you have a meter to prove that it's off? One of the first things to check would be the transformer, again, it's not a good policy to just guess what might be wrong. This can get expensive and dangerous. If in doubt, call a pro. Take care,

Thanks Heatpumpman! I've called the A/C guy and he's coming tomorrow but I just got impatient and thought I'd try to logic this out myself....I put in a new thermostat and guess what...it's still not working! LOL I'm done playing miss fixit and I will take your advice and pay a pro to do the thinking for me!

Thanks for your help!

lauren (the inept one)

You could just jump R to G and see if you get fan. thats one way to check out the tstat right away. see if you can stay when the tech is there and go over the AC unit with him . Dont forget the air filter every 30 to 90 days .

ED ;)