Chances are you’ve seen articles and advertisements telling you to get your HVAC system cleaned and maintained at least once or twice a year (it should be apart of any fall furnace maintenance routine). You may be wondering why it’s so important. After all, your equipment seems to keep working, right?
That may be the case for now, but you’re setting yourself up for a host of trouble later on (not to mention much bigger expenses) by skipping this easy and affordable task.
1. It’ll help you breathe easier.
As air travels through your air conditioner, furnace, and ventilation system in the process of heating and cooling your building, it collects a buildup of dust, grime, debris, mold, pollen, and other unsavory things we won’t even mention. Trust us, if your equipment has not been cleaned in a while, the sight will make your stomach turn. Now realize that you’re breathing in this nasty stuff.
Ever wonder why people get sick more once the heat gets turned on in the fall? You hear that epidemic of coughs and sneezes? When you turn on that furnace after half a year of sitting unused and collecting gunk, all the collected debris gets circulated throughout the building, contaminating the air and spreading airborne illness. To get rid of the crud that’s making everyone sick:
- Change the air filters in your air conditioner and furnace
- Have all HVAC equipment thoroughly cleaned by a professional. HVAC service companies use specially formulated cleaners that completely remove even years of accumulated grime.
- Have all your ductwork thoroughly cleaned. In here, you may even find more goodies like rat dropping and disease-carrying insects. While you’re at it, make sure any holes are fixed to improve air circulation.
2. You save on energy bills.
And this buildup of grime affects your HVAC system’s efficiency as well as the health of your building’s occupants. Dirty filters, fans and blower motors reduce the flow of air and make your furnace work harder to heat the space up to the desired temperature. The result? More energy usage and higher bills for you. Paying more than you need to month in and month out ultimately affects your bottom line and the health of your business.
There are two facts you need to know to figure out about how much you could be saving on your utility bills by regularly cleaning and tuning up your HVAC system:
- Your HVAC system accounts for 40% or more of your commercial building’s energy consumption.
- For each year that your system has been neglected, it loses 5% of its operational efficiency.
You can probably take a guess at how long it’s been since your HVAC system was serviced, and you certainly know how much you’re spending on utility bills. It’s just a simple math problem to estimate what you could be saving just by regularly cleaning your HVAC system. SPOILER: It’s likely to be much more than the cost of the cleaning!
3. Cleaning and inspecting can prevent breakdowns.
All the grime that accumulates on your heating and cooling equipment causes parts to wear out faster since your system has to run longer and work harder to do its job. Not only will you greatly increase the life span of your system with regular cleaning, but when an experienced HVAC technician is regularly inspecting it, he can spot small problems and fix them before they cause major breakdowns.
Wouldn’t you rather make a small investment in a thorough cleaning and tune-up than have to shell out thousands for a new furnace years before you have to? Not even considering the cost of a new furnace, can you afford to go days without heat? How much will your business be impacted by a complete failure of your heating system? Then you’re in a position of having to pay extra for emergency service.
Now that you know what’s at stake, your next step is to understand what an annual preventative maintenance actually entails to make sure you get the service that’s right for you. Unfortunately, there is no industry standard, so it can be tricky to compare prices. To learn more, grab a copy of our free guide: HVAC Preventative Maintenance Contracts: How to Find the Right One for Your HVAC Infrastructure.
