Preventative Maintenance on your hvac system – what’s the big deal?
Bill Bouchard, Owner, Integrity Services of Maine
At Integrity Services of Maine (ISM), one of the most important services we provide is heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration preventative maintenance services, commonly referred to as an HVAC PM.
The following are some questions about HVAC PMs that our clients have had over the years:
Q: What are Preventive Maintenance Services?
A. PM Services are routine, prescheduled visits to a customer’s site to test, inspect, clean, and service their heating, air conditioning, ventilation, and refrigeration equipment.
Q: What is done during a typical PM?
A. It depends on what you have for equipment, how often you service it, and during what time of the year. Cooling equipment is usually done in the Spring before the hot, humid weather—heating equipment is done in the Fall to prepare for the heating season.
Q: The guy who installed our new high-efficiency gas boiler said it requires no preventative maintenance. Do you agree?
A. No. This is a common misconception that I often hear. While it is true that a high-E gas boiler requires very little maintenance when compared to an oil boiler, it still needs maintenance work performed. The boiler needs safety controls checked, a condensation drain system cleaned, ignition electrodes checked, the flue gases should have a combustion test performed, etc. Almost all HVAC or refrigeration equipment need some maintenance.
Q: Our facility has a maintenance person who does PMs. Why pay more to have your company do them?
A: Has your maintenance person been to school for HVAC, spent thousands of hours working in the trade under the supervision of a master technician, have the required tools and testing devices, and have special insurance? If not, then it is not legal, or safe for them to be working on this equipment. The average maintenance person should only change air filters, replace thermostat batteries, and call us when there is an issue.
Q: Currently, we call a company when the AC stops working; why can’t we keep doing that?
A. You can do that if you prefer, but let me ask you a few questions. Has an unsuspected HVAC failure ever negatively affected your business? Could the failures have been avoided with proper maintenance? Are the repairs often costly? Do you have a lot of environmental complaints from your employees like: “It smells when the HVAC runs,” “It’s too hot/cold in my office,” or “I feel sick when I am at work”? These could be indicators of an improperly maintained HVAC system. You should have a PM program if you answered yes to any of these questions.
Q: How often should we have PMs done at our business?
A. This depends on several factors. Some businesses need quarterly, while others only need bi-annual PMs. Some customers start with four visits per year, and at the end of the first full year, evaluate to see if that was too often. Conversely, if we are doing two PMs a year and the equipment is in terrible shape with plugged air filters, dirty air coils, etc., we suggest increasing the number of annual PM visits. Listening to the HVAC equipment will tell you what it wants (Call me Bill, the HVAC whisperer).
ABOUT THE PRO
Bill bouchard, is the owner of Integrity Services of Maine, located in Auburn. Bill was an HVAC+R service technician in the Lewiston Auburn area for 16 years and a service manager at a large HVAC company in Portland for three years before coming back to LA to pursue his dream of owning and operating the most professional and ethical HVAC company in the area. He lives in Poland with his beautiful wife, Tammie. He enjoys running… wait, no he doesn’t! His wife enjoys running, and she keeps him out there running after her. He actually enjoys restoring, riding, and talking about old motorcycles and cars.
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