Summer is approaching, bringing extreme heat and... Is your ventilation and air conditioning equipment not prepared? If this happens, you need to ensure that your unit can provide cool air during the hottest months. For this, preventive maintenance of the climate control system is necessary.
Adjustments always help your air conditioning (AC) system operate efficiently. This also reduces utility bills and the likelihood of breakdowns you may face on those hot days. At Optima Retail, we want to help you keep your HVAC systems in top shape.
What happens if you turn on the AC on an incredibly hot day and discover it doesn’t work at all? And what if your air conditioner requires parts that your maintenance service technician will take a couple of days to order? This could be quite concerning.
Therefore, you should try to avoid all these inconveniences by testing your unit well in advance. This can be done during the spring, and if it turns out to be faulty with issues like damaged ducts, leaks, and electronic failures, you can repair it before summer begins.
In addition to scheduled preventive maintenance and following a basic air conditioning maintenance routine, you can ensure a comfortable environment throughout the entire season.
Why Perform Air Conditioning Maintenance?
This is because the filters and coils of your unit need regular maintenance for the system to operate effectively and efficiently over years of service.
Failing to perform preventive maintenance will undoubtedly result in poor unit performance, more costly repairs, and a significant increase in energy consumption.
How is Preventive Air Conditioning Maintenance Performed? Step by Step
When a trained service technician arrives at your retail establishment to perform the inspection and maintenance procedure of the air conditioning system, they will do several things, both on the external and internal parts.
External Air Conditioning Unit
The following steps should be taken for the external part of the air conditioning system:
Disconnect and remove the air conditioning grille
Remove dirt from the coil
Inspect and lubricate fan bearings
Straighten the fins (special tool needed)
Clean around the air conditioning unit
Finally, reassemble and check functionality
Internal Air Conditioning Unit
For the internal part of the AC, you should:
Turn off the power to the air conditioning system
Clean the air conditioner’s evaporator coils
Perform a chemical cleaning of the drain tray
Finally, clean the air conditioning drain if it is clogged
Types of Air Conditioning Maintenance
Several types of air conditioning maintenance contracts can be established, and their prices may vary depending on the maintenance goals of the equipment installation.
Preventive Maintenance
You can opt for the so-called “TECHNICIAN” preventive maintenance to comply with any imposed regulations and preserve the installations.
This maintenance work involves adjusting and cleaning the equipment, as well as searching for possible breakdowns. If necessary, during the inspection, the specialist can perform repairs or suggest solutions.
Benefits of Preventive Maintenance in Air Conditioning Systems
There are many benefits to air conditioning maintenance. Below, we list three of the best:
Cost Reduction
Air conditioning installations with proper maintenance can save substantial amounts of money. This is partly due to reduced energy costs, but also to a longer lifespan of all equipment and a greatly reduced risk of breakdowns and defects that need to be repaired.
Reduced Energy Consumption
Preventive maintenance of your air systems can reduce the energy consumption of your retail company’s facilities by up to 30%. Of course, this has a positive effect not only on your company’s sustainability goals but also on your energy bill.
Longer Lifespan
When these installations are regularly inspected and maintained, the chances of repair or complete replacement of the entire system are greatly reduced.
Improved Air Quality
Preventive maintenance has a significant impact on the air quality inside physical stores, for example. In fact, the air circulation is always filtered and clean.
This reduces the risk of bacteria presence in the facilities, making air conditioning maintenance essential, as it has a positive effect on everyone’s well-being and the overall productivity of your retail business.
Avoid Breakdowns
Preventive maintenance of climate control installations helps avoid potential breakdowns. This has a direct impact not only on costs, as mentioned earlier, but also on the overall productivity of the facilities.
Predictive Maintenance
Predictive maintenance is a technique that uses data analysis tools and techniques to detect anomalies in operation and potential defects in equipment and processes so that they can be fixed before they result in failures.
Ideally, predictive maintenance allows the frequency of air conditioning issues to be as low as possible to avoid unplanned reactive maintenance.
How Does Predictive Maintenance Work?
Predictive maintenance uses historical and real-time data from various parts of your operation to anticipate problems before they occur. Having a maintenance manual from the air conditioning brand is really useful for the technician to have greater certainty.
Corrective Maintenance
Corrective maintenance, also known as failure maintenance or execution, is a type of reactive maintenance. It is also the simplest and most outdated way to manage assets, consisting of intervening in a plant or machinery only after a breakdown has occurred.
Application of Corrective Maintenance
Breakdown maintenance is applicable to all assets that fall into the following categories:
Non-essential Assets: These are assets that can be easily replaced once a failure has occurred without compromising or blocking the operation of the plant or establishments where they are installed, such as in split air conditioning maintenance.
Short Life Cycle Assets: These are all assets that are not designed to last over time, but rather to fulfill specific functions within short lifespans.
Disposable Assets: These are all types of assets that are generally economical and designed for single use. Examples include car tires or printer cartridges and toner.
At Optima Retail, we are your specialist company in preventive air conditioning maintenance services. Contact us now and discover how you can save on your maintenance operations and the operability of your air systems.