Your Summer Commercial AC Maintenance Checklist

2018 is on pace to be the fourth hottest year on record. As temperatures continue to rise year-after-year due to climate change, staying on top of commercial air conditioner maintenance pays twofold: Ensuring a system that won’t leave you in need of emergency commercial air conditioning repair on summer’s hottest days; and safeguarding efficient performance integral to controlling energy costs and lowering your business’ carbon footprint.

Your Summer Commercial AC Maintenance Checklist

Heating and cooling consume the most energy in buildings and impact employee and customer comfort. To ensure peak efficiency and reliable performance, look to these key commercial HVAC service tasks:

• Keep Filters Clean

  Commercial HVAC mechanical contractors in Philadelphia respond to a lot of service calls that could have been easily avoided with regular air filter maintenance. This is one of the most inexpensive and easy tasks you can accomplish, but also the most commonly forgotten. During hot summer months, swapping out dusty, clogged air filters regularly will allow air to move more freely through the system, cooling more efficiently. Mark it on the calendar, swapping the filter every 1-3 months.

• Schedule a Professional Cleaning & Tune-Up

  Commercial HVAC systems should be serviced before ‘busy season’: Once in the spring before summer heat sets in, and once in the fall before the winter chill. This will ensure proper, efficient performance. Make this one of your top maintenance tasks – or you’ll likely end up waiting on emergency repairs with others whose systems gave out during temperature extremes due to neglected maintenance. What can a pro do that you can’t?
• Carefully inspect and clean the outdoor coils and compressor.
  Dirty coils force your system to work harder, impacting performance and increasing energy costs.
• Inspect the condition of fan blades and lubricate motors.
  These components keep your compressor, which costs significant money to replace, cool.
• Verify the proper function of wiring, switches, belts, and other key components.
  These each directly impact how your cooling system operate. Verifying each part or piece is in good working order (tight, lubricated, etc.) requires a keen eye and attention to detail.
• Check and adjust refrigerant levels.
  Too much or too little refrigerant can negatively impact performance. Older system? The phase out of R-22 by 2020 makes this refrigerant increasingly more difficult and expensive to come by.
• Properly program thermostat(s).
  Revisiting thermostat settings each season ensures efficient operation.
• Check drip pans & drainage.
  Moisture-related blockages can result in mold growth and costly repairs.

• Check Ductwork.

  Ductwork is critical to safeguarding performance. Have your ductwork regularly inspected by your HVAC professional for leaks, which can take a massive toll on performance, reducing efficiency up to 30%. Also have your ducts checked within. Dirty ducts can negatively impact airflow and air quality, harboring bacteria, mold, and more.

• Don’t Forget Industrial Chiller Maintenance.

  Rely on an industrial chiller as part of your operation? These systems require regular maintenance to ensure performance too!

Struggling to find a knowledgeable, reliable provider of commercial HVAC in Philadelphia? H&H Commercial Services has the experience and expertise to install and maintain even the most specialized systems. Contact us to learn more today.

This post originally appeared on: https://hhcommercialonline.com/summer-commercial-ac-maintenance-checklist/

Which Type of Pool Room Dehumidifier is Best for My Natatorium?

A temperamental environment, indoor pool humidity control is an essential component of every natatorium. Without the addition of a dehumidification system, facilities would be nearly unbearable to use and short-lived due to moisture issues. Most indoor pool owners have little insight into the function of these systems, however, making it difficult for them to ensure the dehumidification needs of their pool room are met, putting natatorium lifespan at risk.

A Plethora of Pool Room Factors

Complicating this process, a wide array of factors impact pool room comfort and dehumidification system performance. External temperature and humidity, water temperature, occupancy, and more can all impact relative humidity (RH) levels in the pool room. Best kept in the 50-60% RH , 84-degree F water temperature, and 82-degree room temperature range, humidity and evaporation must be carefully managed, with special attention paid to air circulation patterns integral to controlling humidity, evaporation rate, and condensation formation.

Which Dehumidification System Best Manages Humidity & Temperature in my Natatorium?

Balancing comfort, cost, and appearance involves compromise…

• Ventilation-Based Dehumidifiers

  Ventilation-based dehumidifiers use outside air to remove moisture. Installation complexity and up-front costs are lower with these systems, however they come with limitations. In the summer, temperature and humidity control are limited, and can only be maintained within +/-30% from setpoint, making it difficult for these systems to cool below ambient temperature in the summer. Ventilation-based systems are also less efficient than mechanical dehumidification systems, particularly in the winter. In areas with cold winters and short, hot summers, your commercial HVAC service provider can improve efficiency with an air-to-air heat recovery addition. This can reduce space heating requirements in the winter by 50% - albeit at the expense of a 25-30% higher system installation.

• Mechanical Dehumidification Systems

  Mechanical dehumidification systems, such as the Dectron dehumidifier, operate much like conventional HVAC units, but with an added function: A heat pump cycle capable of reclaiming heat energy created during dehumidification for re-use in both heating pool water and/or controlling natatorium climate. Though a higher initial investment than ventilation-based dehumidifiers, this added functionality equates to lower operational costs over the life of the equipment, as most pools require heating throughout the year, and these systems provide it without the need for an auxiliary heating system. In regions with long hot seasons and high humidity, commercial heating and air conditioning contractors often recommend mechanical systems as a more practical choice. They dehumidify on cooler days, maintaining setpoint humidity levels regardless of outside conditions without the limitations of ventilation-bases systems. They can also provide ventilation as needed, as well as offer the ability to recycle waste heat for efficient re-use in the winter with the addition of a pool water condenser, and the capacity to reject waste heat and cool natatorium space in the summer for superior year-round comfort.

Ensure a pool dehumidification and environmental control system specially designed to meet your natatorium’s unique needs. Contact H&H Commercial HVAC in Philadelphia to learn more about available systems and uncover which system offers the best fit for your pool room and budget today.

This post originally appeared on: https://hhcommercialonline.com/type-pool-room-dehumidifier-best-natatorium/