Honeywell thermostat: “Cool On” or the snowflake blinking
The thermostat’s built-in delay of up to five minutes. After the compressor turns off, a minimum off timer keeps it off for a few minutes so it does not restart too soon (short cycling), which can damage your equipment.
Applies to: Honeywell Home thermostats. What you see: words and a symbol.
What Honeywell Home says to do
Wiring and power. Honeywell Home ties this, on at least some systems, to the wiring, the power supply or the C wire. The steps here are only Honeywell Home’s own, as its page states them; semiatic gives no wiring instructions of its own. Honeywell Home’s own line on calling a professional is step 2 below.
- Honeywell Home says to wait 5 minutes for the system to respond safely.
- Honeywell Home says that if the delay lasts longer than five minutes there may be an issue with the voltage to the thermostat, and a professional contractor could verify the voltage is in an acceptable range and that there are no shorted wires.
Same symbol, elsewhere: A snowflake on a boiler’s own panel means frost protection, not cooling.
Source
Honeywell Home’s own help pages, read on the date shown.
- Honeywell Home Support: Why is my thermostat display showing “wait,” “waiting for equipment,” or flashing “cool on”? — Honeywell Home thermostats (each model words the delay differently). www.honeywellhome.com Checked 2026-09-29.
- Honeywell Home Support: Why is the “Cool On,” “Heat On,” “Snowflake,” or “Flame” blinking on the thermostat display? — Honeywell Home programmable thermostats, filed under the Wireless 5-1-1 Day Programmable. www.honeywellhome.com Checked 2026-09-29.
A similar symbol on other thermostats
The same symbol on another maker’s thermostat can mean something else.