A Heating And AC Guide To Getting The Best HVAC Preventative Maintenance Contract | New Orleans, LA

1/15/2022

Photo By chrupka at Shutterstock

As a manager or owner of a business, identifying the right HVAC preventative maintenance contract for your business can be a challenge. When you lack heating and AC expertise, reviewing the suitability of various contractors can be an arduous and baffling process.

We’re here to help you make sense of commercial HVAC preventative maintenance. This article helps identify the most suitable commercial HVAC maintenance contract and the best heating and AC service provider in New Orleans, LA based on your needs. We look at three things:

• A checklist for commercial heating and AC preventative maintenance with season-specific tasks
• What the contractor should ask you
• What you should ask the contractor

A Checklist for Commercial HVAC Preventative Maintenance

Let’s start by giving you a general task list to help you compare and review commercial heating and AC preventive maintenance contracts. The first step to determining what a suitable contract should include is assessing your needs. The factors that determine the task list you need include your equipment (type, size, condition, age), usage and location.

Heating Maintenance Checklist for Fall and Winter

• Replace heater filters
• Check and adjust (if needed) blower motor and fan operation
• Check and replace (if needed) pulleys and belts
• Check electrical connections
• Inspect heat exchanger
• Check thermostats operation
• Inspect burner assembly and ignition
• Clear pans and drain lines
• Lubricate moving parts (motors, bearings, etc.)

AC Maintenance Checklist for Spring and Summer

• Replace AC filters
• Clean evaporator coils and condenser
• Check thermostats operation
• Check airflow
• Lubricate moving parts (motors, bearings, etc.)
• Check electrical connections
• Check and replace (if needed) pulleys and belts
• If the charge is low, check refrigerant charge for leaks
• Clear pans and drain lines
• Check and adjust (if needed) blower motor and fan operation

How To Identify a Reliable and Trustworthy HVAC Service Company

Now that you have a list of tasks for each season, you need to identify the best heating and AC service company. We recommend that you call a heating and AC service company and ask about their preventive maintenance contract. They will likely send an inspector to inspect the current condition of your HVAC equipment.

As they inspect your equipment, the HVAC technician will ask for information regarding your HVAC system. You can tell if you’re working with a professional by the kind of questions the technician asks. If they don’t ask any questions, consider that a red flag. Moreover, the inspection gives you a chance to ask crucial questions that help you assess the suitability of the heating and AC service provider.

What the Contractor Should Ask You

• How your HVAC system has been performing. If your system has been performing poorly, with humidity issues and inconsistent temperature control, the HVAC technician will determine which system design issues to address.

 

• Whether you’ve experienced any issues with maintenance. If you’ve been experiencing system failures with increasing frequency, the HVAC technician may inspect the system further to identify potential causes.

 

• The number of hours in a day and days in a week you operate the system. The extent of your usage determines how much maintenance the system will require.

 

• The levels of occupancy and usage of your indoor spaces. The HVAC technician needs to determine how your business operations affect the load on the system to recommend a suitable maintenance plan.

 

• Your overall energy consumption. If there’s a recent uptick in our energy consumption with no identifiable cause, it may be a result of your HVAC system running inefficiently, in which case the HVAC technician will recommend a lasting solution.

What You Should Ask the Contractor

1. What Health and Safety Measures Does the HVAC Company Have in Place?

As we endure the COVID-19 pandemic, a heating and AC service company that works on your business premises must take precautions to prevent the spread of the virus. These precautions include wearing masks, gloves, and face shields or face glasses. Service providers should do frequent health checks and encourage sick employees to stay home.

Additionally, as heating and AC technicians work on your equipment, they should disinfect and clean surfaces with which they make contact. Lastly, it is imperative that technicians dispose of used HVAC filters safely. The filter may be contaminated with virus particles, so the technicians must place the filters in plastic bags and deposit the bags in receptacles.

2. How Much Time Does the HVAC Technician Take To Inspect Your Equipment During Each Visit?

The answers you receive from different heating and AC companies provide a good point of comparison. Generally, the more time a technician for the HVAC company spends with your system, the more thorough the inspection.

3. Following Each Visit, Does the HVAC Company Review Maintenance Issues With a Customer?

Go for a HVAC company with technicians who are happy to explain what an inspection entailed and why they recommend specific corrective actions. Professional and trustworthy HVAC service providers readily show customers what New Orleans, LA technicians did during a service call.

4. What Steps Does the HVAC Company Recommend To Optimize the Performance of the System?

If the HVAC technician discovers performance issues during the initial inspection, they may recommend other solutions in addition to preventive maintenance. Responsible business owners and managers take every step to ensure their system performs optimally and reliably because well-performing HVAC systems benefit businesses in several ways.

Reliable Heating and Cooling Services in New Orleans, LA

The commercial HVAC preventative maintenance checklists that this article provides will enable you to determine the scope of the maintenance work you need to ensure your equipment operates at its peak.

If you need preventative maintenance or repairs done on your business’s HVAC system, contact bluefrog Home Services of New Orleans and a professional HVAC technician will arrive at your premises within hours. In addition to commercial HVAC services, we offer commercial plumbing and drain services such as drain cleaning, hydro jetting, plumbing repairs/maintenance, and more.