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Owner’s Guide to Restaurant HVAC & Refrigeration Service

by Michael C. Rosone |

Like most business owners, you’re probably not an HVAC expert. Yet your restaurant HVAC is a mission critical system that your business can’t operate without. All year round, you depend on your heating and air conditioning system to keep your dining room comfortable for your customers, so they keep returning to your restaurant again and again. Your restaurant HVAC also keeps your kitchen and food prep areas comfortable for employees, which have specialized comfort and ventilation requirements in order to meet health inspection requirements.

The same holds true for your commercial refrigeration equipment. When your walk in freezers, blast chillers, low boy refrigerators and display cases are not working as they should, it’s a big risk to your business. If your food quality suffers, you could lose customers. In the worst case, you could be serving food that puts customers in danger of getting sick if your ingredients are not stored at the proper temperatures. The next thing you know, negative reviews start popping up on social media. And what happens if the health inspector shows up when your commercial refrigeration equipment is acting up?

That’s why we have put together this collection of essential information for the restaurant owner about restaurant HVAC and commercial refrigeration equipment service: it’s everything you need to know at your fingertips. Get the answers to all your questions and concerns here! Plus we’ve added out best advice for restaurant owners, based on everything we have learned from serving the industry for 6 decades.

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Restaurant Customer Retention in NYC: Turn New Diners Into Regulars

by Michael C. Rosone |

There are about 24,000 restaurants in New York City alone. Restaurant customer retention can be difficult to manage in that kind of climate. With all of those choices, how do you motivate your customers to keep coming back for more?

Luckily, Restaurant Week will be stirring up some fresh interest in the local dining scene and hopefully drive some new business your way. You want to make a good impression, so what’s a good way to turn them into repeat customers? Make their experience stand out, and offer something better than the rest. Here are some great ways to boost restaurant customer retention.

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Modern Air Conditioning Options for Older Homes & Buildings

by Michael C. Rosone |

When you’re renovating an older building for modern living (especially one in an urban setting like NYC), adding modern conveniences can be a challenge. Air conditioning is a prime example.

Older buildings often don’t have the space to install the ductwork needed for traditional systems. Also, electrical systems may be sufficient to handle the load of today’s AC equipment. While upgrading the electric can be expensive, finding the space for air conditioning equipment is more of a problem. Doing it wrong can often mean damaging original plaster, floors and woodwork. Even in the best case, installing traditional equipment usually means giving up closet space or lowering ceilings to make room for equipment.

That’s why it’s smart to consider alternative air conditioning systems for older homes, as well as small businesses renovating older buildings. In New York City, historic brownstone townhouses are frequently renovated for both uses. Here we will discuss the problems with older solutions, and introduce 3 more modern air conditioning options for older homes that you may not know about.

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Ductless AC System? NYC: Think VRF for Comfort & Efficiency

by Michael C. Rosone |

Trying to decide on the right ductless AC system for a NYC luxury residential or light commercial space? It pays to consider variable refrigerant flow or VRF systems for the ultimate in comfort and efficiency.

While it may be unfamiliar to some, VRF technology is not new. In fact, it’s been the ductless AC system of choice in Japan and Europe for decades. These ductless AC units have been gaining in popularity in the US over the past 10 years or so, particularly in the Northeast, including New York City, and on the West Coast, according to a report earlier this year by ACHRNews.

Read on for a review of when you may want or need to choose a ductless AC system in NYC, and why VRF is an ideal choice.

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10 Restaurant Kitchen Design Mistakes You Must Avoid

by Michael C. Rosone |

Restaurant kitchen design: planning is everything

Your kitchen is the heart and soul of your restaurant. Getting your restaurant kitchen design wrong can be a huge disaster. Design impacts the success of your restaurant in many ways:

  • the efficiency of your food prep
  • the ability of your staff to follow safe food handling practices
  • cleanliness of your restaurant
  • whether you’re meeting all applicable codes and standards (if not, you could be shut down or your opening could be delayed)

As a provider of HVAC, refrigeration and kitchen equipment maintenance to NYC restaurants for decades, we’ve been involved in lots of restaurant renovations and build-outs. Over the years, we have learned a thing or two about what NOT to do when creating a restaurant kitchen design. Whether you’re remodeling or opening a new establishment, avoid these bad practices that can cost you big time.

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Retail HVAC: How Clothing Almost Destroyed a Brand New HVAC System

by Michael Rosone |

For retail businesses, comfortable conditions in your store are directly related to your bottom line. No one wants to shop in a store that’s too hot or cold, especially in the city where there’s another great store just down the block.

Retail HVAC issues can be frustrating for the business, and expensive in lost business as well as repair cost. If you own or manage a retail store (and you are reading this article!) then chances are you have experienced what we are talking about:

  • Fairly new equipment mysteriously breaking down
  • Inconsistent temperatures
  • Even water leaks from AC units that can damage your store and your merchandise

If your retail store is experiencing issues after a new retail HVAC system is installed (or even repeated issues with an older system that’s been in place for a while), you might wonder why you have these problems that your counterparts working in offices don’t seem to experience. The truth is, office experience different problems, because the environments are different. HVAC problems in a retail environment can be tricky to diagnose and fix, and that’s why you need retail HVAC experts to get to the root cause of your issues and find the right equipment to keep your space consistently comfortable.

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