Commercial Air Conditioning: Maintenance Tips
Studies have revealed that workplace temperature can affect creativity and output of the employees. It is therefore important that businesses in Western Australia pay attention to their air- conditioning units during summers to prevent any costly system failure.
One of the best ways to keep your commercial air conditioning unit running smoothly is performing a routine maintenance. In addition, following some of these simple tips listed below will help prevent a steady decline in air- conditioning performance and also increase its lifespan.
Avoid Overloading the Unit
Lowering the temperature on the thermostat for quick cooling during the hot summer months can lead the air conditioning unit to work longer and harder. This can often put tremendous stress on your system affecting its performance in the long run. Therefore, adjusting your thermostat to a comfortable setting is recommended to avoid higher utility bill and system wear and tear.
Allow the Condensing Unit to Breathe
In the most commercial setting, the condenser unit is often blocked with chairs and outdoor furniture. This decreases the unit’s ability to draw air in, increasing strain on the unit.
Maintaining the Filters and Vents
Filters and vents of workspace HVAC systems often collect bacteria, dust, pollen, and mould. It is therefore important to maintain them regularly. While vents should be cleaned regularly to allow air circulation and prevent the spread of viruses and bacteria on a commercial property, cleaning filters should be done once a month during summers. To know more about specific manufacturer guidelines, call us now.
Keep a check on the Freon levels
A gradual decrease in the Freon levels cam leads to the reduced performance of commercial air conditioning units. Generally, this problem is common in older units.
Opt For Routine Scheduled Maintenance
Unlike homeowners who use their air conditioners during the summers, commercial air conditioning unit works all year round. It is therefore important that maintenance service for these units is scheduled at least twice a year. Opting for a regular maintenance can help identify and address minor problems before they begin affecting your employee’s efficiency at work.
How to get the most from a commercial air conditioner?
- Keep all doors and windows closed: This will prevent outdoor air, hot or cold for entering into the room and allow the air conditioner to run longer.
- Keep the cooling and heating space to a minimum: This can be done by closing doors of all those rooms that do not require heating or cooling. Ensure that the thermostats and vents of unused space are also sectioned off.
- Keep a check on the difference between the indoor and outdoor temperatures: Irrespective of the temperature outdoors, avoid bringing down the temperature below 8°C. Maintaining a smaller difference between the temperatures indoors and outdoors by setting the thermostat to a high comfortable temperature and ensuring humidity control can help reduce cooling costs during the summers.
- Set the temperature according to the season: While the ideal temperatures to be set in summers is 24- 26°c in summers, setting a temperature between 18 -20°c during winters will be just right. For storerooms or toilets, maintaining 16°C in winters would be ideal. Setting your thermostat to a colder temperature will not make your space cool faster, but instead can result in overcooling.
- Choose the right mode for running air conditioners: Using the economy mode when running the air conditioner will help maintain the right temperature in the room, reducing energy usage. Similarly when running central air system, set the ‘auto mode’ on the fan setting and switch on the fans of individual rooms instead. However, if you have a central cooling system, using zoning options will restrict air flow only to certain areas of the house.
- Use portable or ceiling fans: Using portable or ceiling fans along with the air conditioner can help air spread air quickly and more efficiently all through your home.
- Ventilation: To allow fresh air to flow through the room, open doors, and windows at night or early morning and close them during the day.
- Switch off the air — conditioner if cool outside: If the temperature dips outside, switch off the air conditioner and open doors and windows to allow cool air to flow inside.
- Switch off the heat sources indoors: Heat sources such as computers, lights, ovens or printers can add to the heat load indoors. To enjoy a cooler atmosphere, ensure to switch them off when not in use.
- Use energy- efficient lights: Using energy efficient lighting such as compact fluorescent light bulbs will not emit heat, helping keep your space cooler.
- Use the air conditioner only when required: When at home, always use your air conditioner when you are in the room. In commercial buildings, ensure that unit is switched off at the end of business days and during the weekends.
- Use Timers: Using the timers helps to switch on the system whenever someone enters a room and switch off whenever the person leaves the room. This helps reduce the number of working hours of the air conditioning system.
- Using programmable thermostats: A great benefit of using a programmable thermostat in a commercial setting is that t it switches on the air conditioning system 30 minutes prior to the arrival of people and switches it off 30 minutes before they depart at the end of the day.
- Good air circulation is imperative: Removing plants, furniture or curtains blocking air around the indoor unit and removing dust blocking the heat exchanger and plants obstructing the airflow ensures that there is good circulation around the indoor and outdoor units.
- Protect the unit from the sun: Use a shaded mesh or an awning to prevent the unit from getting overheated.
- Keep humidity levels of the room low: Instead of mopping floors, drying clothes or taking a long shower during the day, do these things in the evening when it is cooler.
Ensure there are no air leaks in the ducts: Having air leaks in ducts can lead the cool air cooling inside of your room instead of the indoors of your home.
To ensure that your air conditioning unit runs smoothly at all times and to know more about commercial air conditioning maintenance in greater Perth area, call us at GMTair today.