Think about your first car. What did it look like? What kind of emotions does it stir up for you? Whether it was used or new, most of us cherished our first car mainly because of what it represented: freedom.
Unfortunately, one of the common drawbacks of being a new driver is having to learn (the hard way) how to properly care for your car. To a young driver trying to get from Point A to Point B, spending money and taking time for things like oil changes, new tires, or brake pads often fall from the priority list and become neglected.
Of course, a poorly maintained car will inevitably stop running over time. What’s the point of this trip down memory lane?
Don’t treat your commercial HVAC system like your first car
Like a vehicle, your commercial HVAC system is a complex combination of mechanical and electronic components. It’s exposed to the elements, takes its fair share of beatings over its lifetime, and is likely used far more than you realize.
Also, just like your car, your HVAC system requires consistent, quality maintenance in order to keep functioning well. Without it, it will begin to deteriorate and eventually fail prematurely.
Just as a smart car owner understands that basic maintenance like changing the oil, rotating the tires, and replacing the air filter needs to be done routinely over the entire lifespan of the vehicle, a commercial building owner needs to ensure his or her HVAC system is getting the same consistent level of maintenance during its entire lifespan.
What if you don’t know anything about HVAC maintenance?
As a commercial building owner or facility manager, you may have a very basic understanding of how your building systems work, but when it comes down to locating the tools to care for your HVAC system, you might not know where to begin.
And, that’s not uncommon. These building systems are complex and require a deep understanding of all of the various moving parts.
If you’re not a commercial HVAC expert - and don’t have at least one on staff - the best decision is to work with a professional HVAC partner you can depend on to maintain your equipment.
Why Boiler Maintenance Matters
It’s understandable that the boiler, chiller, controls system, and just about any individual component in your commercial HVAC system is going to cost you more to replace than whatever car you had as a teenager.
As a building owner or facility manager, you know there’s no room to blatantly waste money or invest poorly if you hope to remain successful in this competitive climate. That’s why boiler maintenance - and really every aspect of maintaining your commercial HVAC system - is so vitally important: Because you can’t afford to ignore it.
The value of a planned maintenance program for your commercial HVAC system
At Tolin Mechanical, we offer our clients a simple but powerful program of planned maintenance that’s customized to your building’s unique needs in terms of equipment, usage, expected lifespan, and other factors. Then, we have our trained and HVAC technicians drop by at routine intervals to inspect the system and handle anything and everything it needs to keep functioning well and running efficiently all year long.
Not only does taking care of your HVAC system this way help keep your tenants comfortable year round, but it also helps control operating expenses by keeping energy costs as low as possible, and it helps with capex planning since the maintenance technicians will be able to identify and recommend upcoming replacements or upgrades long before they become emergency situations. This means less chance of unexpected downtime as well.
While a planned HVAC maintenance program certainly isn’t required for every commercial facility, it makes far more sense than essentially driving your system into the ground like I did with my first car. And it costs far less in the long run since your HVAC system will last longer and run more efficiently throughout its life.
If you’d like to learn more about setting up a planned maintenance program for your facility’s system, we encourage you to contact us today.
