April 19, 2019

If your commercial air conditioner breaks downward during the scorching heat of summer, information technology tin affect your employees, customers and, if y'all are a landlord, the tenants in your building. Ensuring the well-existence and comfort of everyone on the premises is essential to running a successful business and maintaining a high level of edifice occupancy.

If you've ever had to repair or replace your residential or commercial HVAC equipment due to issues that could accept been prevented with routine maintenance, you know how expensive that tin can exist. Now, as you fix for the hot weather flavour, you lot are probably wondering how much you should pay for your service.

The importance of commercial HVAC maintenance

Whatever you do, don't skip it. A planned maintenance program ensures that your HVAC arrangement will be upwardly for the claiming of keeping your business bounds cool all summer. There are also fiscal and operational advantages, which are outlined below.

  • Poorly maintained HVAC systems tin reduce free energy efficiency significantly, driving your energy bills up. When you go along your system in good shape, information technology will run more efficiently, which saves y'all money and exist less likely to break down when you (and your employees and customers) need information technology most.
  • Routine maintenance makes information technology easier to identify declining parts and repair them before they go a bigger problem. If an essential part similar the heat pump, estrus exchanger, condenser coils, or evaporator coils breaks down, the equipment will terminate operating and the damaged part tin can crusade problems with other arrangement components. Information technology can all add upwards to longer reanimation and a higher repair neb.
  • The lifespan of your HVAC unit can be extended, giving you an extra x to xv years before it requires replacing. The cost of replacing an HVAC organisation tin can be significant, then you desire to get as much longevity and utilise out of yours as possible.
  • If your equipment breaks down, the lack of fresh air and comfortable temperatures can harm your business. Your staff cannot exercise their jobs properly, in sweltering temperatures and your clients or customers may decline to come up to the business until the problem is resolved, which will injure your bottom line.

So what's the cost? How much should you pay for keeping your AC unit in skillful working guild?

Depending on where you are located, an HVAC contractor may charge an average of $100 to $140 per 60 minutes, and preventive maintenance visits normally take one to two hours. Some companies charge flat fees for their service visits, such as $85 to $120 for a tune-up.

How much you ultimately pay volition depend on your maintenance agreement, your system, and factors related to both. For example, many commercial HVAC technicians offer annual cooling and heating services contracts that cost upwards of $198 and offer discounts when you hire them for whatever necessary repairs. Contracts are strongly recommended considering you lot get more warranty coverage than if you lot simply arranged for a unmarried visit.

Labor costs explained

Your HVAC maintenance program toll is primarily based on the time it takes to carry out the piece of work. The simplified approach to computing price is to take the contract cost and divide it by the technician's hourly labor rate to come across how many service hours it includes. Then divide that number by the number of scheduled service visits.

Below is an overview of the nigh common residential and commercial HVAC maintenance plans and what elements impact the pricing of each one.

Preventative maintenance plans and pricing explained

Preventative maintenance plans are bones contracts that include a certain number of scheduled visits every year. Depending on manufacturers' recommendations and system requirements, maintenance visits can exist scheduled anywhere between monthly to annually.

During each visit, a qualified contractor will inspect your commercial AC system, make any necessary adjustments, and identify situations impede efficiency, call for repair, or hint at hereafter equipment failure. Other preventive maintenance activities may include:

  • Checking refrigerant levels. It can price anywhere from $1,000 to over $2,000 to replace refrigerant and if a leak is involved, a search and repair can boilerplate $400 per every four hours.
    Air filter changes. If your air conditioning system is in abiding use, you lot'll need to supersede the filters once per month to keep it running properly. New filters more often than not cost anywhere from $10 to $150, but you can get ones that are reusable and only need routine cleaning.
  • Cleaning evaporator and condenser coils. If they are covered with debris, they tin can't do an efficient job of removing the heat from your business premises, and coils that are badly damaged volition demand to be replaced.
  • Combing coil fins. Bent fins cause blockages and brand it more hard for the system to release warm air.
  • Cleaning a chock-full condensate drain. If fluid accumulates in the unit, it can cause water damage in your firm.
  • Lubricating the motor bearings. If the bearings are not treated, it can cause friction and increase the corporeality of power needed for your HVAC unit of measurement to office commonly.
  • Tightening electrical connections. Connections that are too loose tin can crusade your organization to malfunction and reduce its longevity.

This is the least expensive type of commercial HVAC maintenance contract. Depending on which company you work with, information technology may or may not include the replacement of pocket-size parts such as filters and belts.

Preventative maintenance contracts vary in price according to the number of scheduled visits, which in turn depends on the age and status of your system as well every bit how heavily yous use it. For example, cooling systems that run 24/7 in extreme conditions like Nevada summers will need more attention than a smaller residential HVAC system that cools a smaller space only when the residents are habitation.

Other factors that impact pricing include:

  • The size of your system. A sixty-ton unit that requires multiple filter changes and has several compressors that demand servicing is a lot more labor-intensive than a smaller system for a unmarried retail outlet.
  • What blazon system you lot have. If you have a small office using a separate HVAC organization, information technology will not be as expensive to maintain every bit a variable refrigerant flow (VRF) system designed to control temperatures in multiple zones.

You can save coin by getting a preventative maintenance contract that is tailored to your specific HVAC system and the needs of your concern. A reputable HVAC company can help you put together a maintenance program that works for you.

Full labor plans and pricing explained

Full labor plans recover all of the labor for whatever necessary repairs, although they don't include the cost of the parts. Depending on the contract, it may even include arrangement replacement installation. Like preventative maintenance plans, prices will vary depending on:

  • The size and complexity of your HVAC arrangement
  • The number of organization components requiring maintenance, such equally the water heater, dryer vent, etc.

With labor plans, in that location are some additional considerations that may affect how much y'all pay for commercial HVAC maintenance:

  • How hard the equipment is to admission. If your system is so complex that it tin can be difficult to admission the parts requiring maintenance and repair, the work volition take more fourth dimension and the cost will be college.
  • The proximity of your HVAC technician. If the contractor is ofttimes in your expanse, they may not include travel time in your contract toll. If they take to travel across a certain distance to attain your business, they volition accuse yous for it.
Full coverage plans and pricing explained

Full coverage plans are splendid choices when you lot desire to encompass all your bases and get out zip to chance. This type of commercial HVAC maintenance contract is the most expensive because information technology covers maintenance and labor and includes the parts, simply information technology can as well save you coin if your system needs expensive repairs.

With full coverage contracts, the main factors affecting the price are the historic period and condition of your unit. Older commercial HVAC systems and those in declining condition are more than likely to have expensive parts suspension downwardly. If your unit is more than 10 years erstwhile, it may make better sense to supplant it. Many HVAC professionals go by the "$5,000 rule", which is:

  • Multiply the age of the organization by the repair price
  • Replace the unit of measurement if the total exceeds $v,000.
Control costs with regular upkeep

Yous can go on your commercial HVAC system operating at peak performance between maintenance visits by doing a little housekeeping. Budget tasks that are adequately simple to carry out include:

  • Removing droppings such equally dirt, grime, fallen leaves, and cut grass from the vicinity of the external unit of measurement. Keep all greenery trimmed back to allow at least two feet of air space.
  • Checking the seals, vents, and ducts in your building for any problems like dirt build-up, cracks, and leaks. Brand certain there are no open spaces effectually your doors, windows or in the ductwork. If there are, seal them immediately to preclude your HVAC unit from working as well hard and peradventure breaking downwards.
  • Preparing your HVAC system properly for the cold weather system. This includes turning off its circuit, hosing it downward gently to remove droppings, covering exposed pipes with foam piping insulation, and protecting the unit with a weatherproof encompass.
  • If your company occupies most (or all) of the building, create a building management system that includes updated equipment controls and an annual maintenance programme for all systems and machinery. Non simply can a building management organization reduce operational costs past fifteen%, but all equipment (including your HVAC system) volition operate more efficiently and be less probable to break down.
Avoid reactive maintenance

Have yous ever chosen a repair professional like a plumber or electrician on weekends or in the centre of the dark? It's expensive, and HVAC priority service repairs are no exception. If you don't have a routine maintenance plan in place to find and correct developing bug, your arrangement could fail during a summer heatwave and leave yous with an expensive repair bill.

Beingness proactive can brand a huge departure in your bottom line. In 2016, the Houston Independent School District implemented a preventative maintenance plan for its HVAC system. Subsequent analysis confirmed the post-obit benefits:

  • Its yearly maintenance spending on replacement parts, chillers, and boilers decreased by 90% (from $10 -$12 meg to less than $ii million)
  • Service calls fell from twenty to xl days to around 10, representing less disruption

Fewer service calls likewise translated into less disruption to the building occupants, allowing the school to amend serve its purpose.

A commercial HVAC system is likely the nigh expensive and complicated nevertheless necessary system in the entire building.

Our technicians can assistance you manage maintenance costs by developing a service understanding that supports the heating and cooling needs of your commercial property while saving you coin and providing your employees or edifice tenants with a better feel.

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If you lot want to find out how you tin save some costs with your residential HVAC maintenance get alee and contact us! We'll exist happy to assess your specific needs.

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