Summer is approaching, bringing extreme heat with it… Is your ventilation and air conditioning system ready? If not, it is essential to ensure that your unit can provide cool air during the hottest months. To do this, preventive maintenance of your air conditioning system is necessary.

Adjustments always help your air conditioning (AC) system run efficiently. This also reduces your bills and the likelihood of breakdowns you might 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 your air conditioner on an incredibly hot day and find that it doesn’t work at all? What if your air conditioner needs replacement parts that the maintenance technician will take a few days to order? This could be quite worrying.

Therefore, you should try to avoid all these inconveniences by testing your unit well in advance. This can be done in spring, and if you discover problems such as damaged ducts, leaks and electronic faults, you can repair them 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 season.

Why perform maintenance on air conditioning?

This is because the filters and coils in your unit require regular maintenance to ensure that the system operates effectively and efficiently throughout its years of service.

Failure to perform preventive maintenance will inevitably result in poor unit performance, repairs more expensive repairs and a significant increase in energy consumption of energy.

How do you perform preventive maintenance on air conditioning? Step by step

When a qualified technician arrives at your shop to perform the inspection and maintenance procedure on the air conditioning system, they will do several things, both on the external and internal parts.

Outdoor Air Conditioning Unit

For the external part of the air conditioning system, the following steps should be followed:

• Disconnect and remove the air conditioner grille.
• Remove dirt from the coil
• Inspect and lubricate the bearings of the fan
• Straighten the fins (a special tool is required).
• Clean around the air conditioning unit
• Finally, reassemble and check functionality.

Indoor Air Conditioning Unit

For the internal part of the air conditioner, you will need:

• Turn off the power to the air conditioning system.
• Clean the evaporator coils of the air conditioner
• Perform a chemical cleaning of the drain tray
• Finally, clean the drain of the air conditioner if it is clogged.

Types of Air Conditioning Maintenance

Various types of air conditioning maintenance contracts can be established, and their prices may vary depending on the maintenance objectives of the system installation.

Preventive Maintenance

You can opt for so-called “TECHNOLOGICAL” preventive maintenance to comply with any regulations imposed and preserve your installations.

This maintenance work involves adjusting and cleaning the equipment, as well as checking for any faults. If necessary, during the inspection, the specialist may carry out repairs or suggest solutions.

Advantages of Preventive Maintenance in Air Conditioning Systems

There are many advantages to maintaining your air conditioning system. Here are three of the best:

Cost Reduction

Air conditioning systems that are properly maintained can save you a considerable amount of money. This is partly due to reduced energy costs, but also to the longer service life of all devices and a significantly reduced risk of faults and defects that need to be repaired.

Reduction in Energy Consumption of

Preventive maintenance of your air conditioning systems can reduce the energy consumption of your retail 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.

Greater Duration

When these installations are regularly inspected and maintained, the possibility of a10> repair or replacement of the entire system is significantly reduced.

Better Air Quality

Preventive maintenance has a significant impact on the quality of the air inside of physical shops , for example. In fact, the air circulation is always filtered and clean.

This reduces the risk of bacteria in the premises, making air conditioning maintenance essential, as it has a positive effect on everyone’s well-being and the overall productivity of your retail business.

Avoiding Breakdowns

Preventive maintenance of air conditioning systems helps to avoid potential breakdowns. This has a direct impact not only on costs, as mentioned above, 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 resolved before failures occur.

Ideally, predictive maintenance allows you to minimise the frequency of air conditioning problems 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 an air conditioning brand maintenance manual is really useful for giving technicians greater certainty.

Corrective Maintenance

Corrective maintenance, also known as breakdown maintenance or reactive maintenance, is a type of reactive maintenance. It is also the simplest and most outdated way of managing resources, consisting of intervening on a plant or machine only after a breakdown has occurred.

Application of Corrective Maintenance

Breakdown maintenance applies to all resources that fall into the following categories:

Non-Essential Resources

These are resources that can be easily replaced once a fault has occurred without compromising or blocking the operation of the system or the facilities in which they are installed, as in the maintenance of split air conditioners.

Short-Lifecycle Resources

These are all resources that are not designed to last over time, but rather to perform specific functions during short life cycles.

Disposable Resources

These are all types of resources that are generally inexpensive and designed for single use. Examples include car tyres or printer cartridges and toner.

At Optima Retail, we are your specialist in preventive air conditioning maintenance services. Contact us now and find out how you can save money on maintenance and on the operation of your air conditioning systems.