What are the biggest mistakes buildings make in startup in preparation for the summer heat? First and foremost, and the primary mistake they make is doing nothing.
I know our maintenance directors struggle with time restraints. They’re constantly busy taking care of internal work orders, regulatory tasks, mock surveys, taking care of their resident needs and staff as well.
When you’re doing proper maintenance of your equipment, here’s what you want to do. You want to make sure, number one, that your outdoor intakes are free, clean of debris, and we have air that flows freely.
The next step into the unit is your filters. Depending on the style and type of unit you have, make sure your filters stay clean. Be sure they’re changed often.
The next section of a unit would be the coils, whether it’s vertical or horizontal. You want to make sure your coils are clean. Dirty coils cause 90% of the energy waste on any unit, on any given time. What happens is dirt, debris, algae, and mold gets embedded into the fins within the coil and you just can’t get to it any more to get it clean, which also causes algae and other things within the building.
Beyond that, make sure your burners work right. Make sure your blowers are maintained and cleaned and the blower motor cooling holes are not plugged with dirt and debris. And your system should run pretty well.
