When a facility manager has several locations spread across several states, preventive maintenance can become a challenge.
However, having a maintenance plan for your Commercial HVAC equipment is key to reducing wear and tear, preserving equipment warranty, reducing repair costs, reducing energy consumption and maintaining indoor air quality. Making sure your plan is comprehensive and completed by a qualified technician is key to maximizing the benefits that come with a maintenance plan.
Having a maintenance plan is key to reducing wear and tear, repair costs, energy consumption, maintaining indoor air quality and preserving equipment warranty.
Below is a checklist that outlines the different aspects of HVAC preventive maintenance. The list combines both Spring and Fall checklists and identifies whether the item will reduce energy consumption, maintain indoor air quality or reduce wear and tear:
| Spring Maintenance | Fall Maintenance | Reduces wear and tear | Preserves indoor air quality | Reduces energy consumption | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Change out used air filters |  | | | | |
| Apply lubricants to moving parts | | | | | |
| Clean outdoor condenser | | | |||
| Evaporator coils check | | | | ||
| Check refrigerant levels | | | | ||
| Calibrate thermostat | | | | ||
| Clear out drain lines | | ||||
| Check electrical connections | | | | ||
| Monitor pressure and inspect for leaks | | | | ||
| Inspect belts | | | | | |
| Check burner assembly | | | |||
| Compressor check | | | | ||
| Fan motor & blade check | | | | |
Benefits of preventive maintenance for commercial HVAC
The primary role of a HVAC system is to provide a comfortable environment for customers and residents. Preventive maintenance is essential in maintaining a comfortable environment and also comes with a host of other benefits. The benefits vary by the type of equipment, age, climate and other factors, but we will provide a range for a few of the benefits:
- Preventive maintenance improves the energy efficiency of your HVAC system. A building’s HVAC system is the largest consumer of energy and making sure it runs efficiently provides considerable savings. Regular maintenance can increase energy efficiency by up to 25%.
- Reduced downtime and repair frequency. Preventive maintenance can reduce repair instances by up to 75% and reduce downtime by up to 25%
- Reduced repair costs by up to 20%.
- Better indoor air quality resulting from a combination of better-balanced humidity levels and a reduction of air-borne particles.
National & Regional HVAC Management Challenges
Facilities managers that manage several locations across several states are faced with the challenge of not only developing a preventive maintenance plan but also executing it on a consistent and uniform basis across their facility footprint.
This logistical challenge is a combination of setting up several contractors as vendors in different states, managing invoicing, payments and establishing a process to verify maintenance was performed and to the unit specifications.
Many national facilities managers look to national HVAC providers to help support the management of their facilities, others look to a facility management software that can help support this undertaking. With either option, facility managers understand the importance of having a preventive maintenance plan and make it part of their management process.
To find out how Trinity National Accounts provides custom programs for facilities managers with several locations visit HVAC/R Preventive Maintenance page or contact us.
