Preventive maintenance really does pay off in the long run, both in improving the performance of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment and by saving costs. It’s easy to forget about incorporating preventive maintenance into a building’s operating plan when everything is working properly and operating smoothly. However, when problems occur and repairs are needed because the AC equipment was not properly maintained, the costs can add up quickly, often exceeding the costs of implementing a preventive maintenance program. Here is a case in point from a newly-acquired customer of Crockett Facilities Services.
Background
Our customer just had hired a new property manager for a medical office building, and part of her responsibilities included managing the building’s operation and maintenance. She was advised by the building engineer and the previous facilities maintenance company that all the HVAC equipment was performing properly, even though her predecessor did not implement a preventive maintenance program. Upon reviewing the building’s maintenance records, the costs to-date for facilities services added up to $55,000.
Problem
Two out of the six air conditioning systems in the building stopped working due to compressor failures. This negatively impacted the comfort of the medical staff and patients since the indoor temperatures could not be controlled.
Result
The cost to repair the HVAC compressors totaled $30,000 – more than the cost for an entire year of preventive maintenance, which potentially could have avoided this issue. Now the property manager has already exceeded the annual budget for facilities maintenance, while still needing to perform preventive maintenance on the remaining six HVAC systems.
Lesson Learned
Planning upfront to define preventive maintenance schedules for all heating and cooling equipment is essential to controlling costs and reducing utility bills. Doing so not only avoids costly, emergency repairs, but also increases the efficiency of the equipment and extends its life.
Preventive HVAC Maintenance Reduces Costs and Downtime
Despite the warnings and countless published stories, similar to the one above, many commercial facilities still operate in a reactive mode, instead of a proactive one. The most common excuse for this is a lack of resources. But consider this: in the aforementioned situation, the annual cost of a preventative maintenance program would have been less than the cost of the HVAC repairs. In fact, reactive maintenance is the most costly way to maintain a building’s HVAC systems.
Additional benefits of implementing a preventive maintenance HVAC program include:
- Energy Efficiency: A preventive HVAC maintenance program will not only extend the life of your HVAC equipment, but it will also ensure that equipment is running at peak efficiency. And when you take into account that a commercial HVAC system is responsible for more than 40% of a building’s total energy use, an energy-efficient system could save building owners on their monthly energy bills. Facilities in which proper HVAC maintenance is performed use 15 to 20 percent less energy than those facility’s whose systems are allowed to deteriorate.
- Computer Rooms: Often, telecommunication systems and servers have requirements for specific environmental conditions – including temperature and humidity levels – to operate properly. This is just another reason HVAC maintenance is so crucial. If your HVAC system fails, it could lead interruptions in service and downtime, resulting in potential lost revenue to a business.
Facilities that implement preventive HVAC maintenance programs experience as much as a 50% decrease in their total costs compared to organizations that continue their reactive maintenance efforts.
Preventive HVAC Maintenance throughout Maryland, Washington DC, & more
At Crockett Facilities Services, our integrated preventive maintenance programs preserve and enhance equipment reliability, prevent equipment failure and downtime and increase their life span. By scheduling planned maintenance activities, mechanical, electrical and other building equipment will operate at peak performance, avoiding costly breakdowns, loss of productivity and unplanned expenses. CFSI technicians are skilled and trained to provide maintenance for all brands of HVAC equipment, including Liebert, Trane, Stulz-ATS, Carrier, McQuay and more. To learn more about our services, call 301.272.2771 or visit Crockett-Facilities.com.