Hi, I live in the southern California air near the recent fires. We are told to 'recirculate' the air. How does one do that? I have an outside compressor with air conditioning ducts running inside a 2 level home.

Do I have to look for some setting in the thermostat (which I could not find in the manual) or should I try to find a lever at the point where fresh air enters the home? Would this typically be accessible via the attic?

a central ac recirculates from the vents back to the filter register . you can put your thermostat's fan switch from AUTO to MANUAL and the air handler blower will run without the outside unit being on
perhaps that is what they want you to do.to recirculate the air and try and make it seem a little cooler. At times like this you need a dehumidifier badly. If you can get your hands on one it will make the misery feel a bit better.