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“What do I need?” “What can they do?” “How much do they charge?” “How long will it take?” All of these questions probably run through your mind when researching mechanical contractors and trying to find the right HVAC maintenance agreement for your building. And they absolutely should. After all, an HVAC maintenance agreement is about more than paying someone to keep your HVAC system running. It’s about building trust, creating a relationship and demonstrating long-term value by helping you avoid downtime and save money through prevention rather than repair. Whether on a monthly, quarterly or bi-yearly schedule, Yale Mechanical customers count on our custom maintenance agreements for regular inspection and maintenance of their rooftop units, ventilation systems, burners, boilers and more – depending on the unique needs of their building. To help determine a plan that’s right for you, we’ve put together a short list of the most important elements to consider when choosing a service provider and HVAC maintenance agreement: 1. Dedication to Responsiveness It’s expected for a maintenance team to make scheduled visits, check the conditions of your belts, change your filters and do it all again next time. But when unexpected troubles arise, how quickly will they be there to fix your problem? With the largest service fleet in the Twin Cities, we make fast response a cornerstone of our business. Our typical response time is two hours or less in an emergency and four hours for less critical issues. Beyond fast response, you’ll want the team to be able to clearly respond to your questions and concerns, communicate issues and recommend solutions based on expertise, professionalism and honesty. 2. A Consistent Team Every building features different systems, has different quirks and requires attention in unique ways others don’t. A technician who learns the ins and outs of your building’s HVAC systems gains a familiarity that adds value to the maintenance agreement over the long term. Your technician should become someone you trust, and you’ll know you’ve chosen the right company when you not only count on your technician to perform proper maintenance practices, but to also look out for your long-term interests and those of your equipment. As security continues to become an increasingly important issue, you should be confident that the technicians you’re allowing into your building are trained, proven, professional and worthy of your trust. 3. A Focus on Minimizing Downtime Can your service provider help your HVAC system thrive or just survive? It’s always cheaper to make repairs on a scheduled basis rather than having your system shut down because a belt breaks or filters weren’t changed regularly. How often regular maintenance needs to be conducted depends on the processes you’re running and the condition of your equipment, so an HVAC maintenance plan should be customized to your needs with an eye on preventing system failures. 4. Proactive Focus on Your Needs and Budget Look for someone who takes ownership of your equipment. That not only includes working to extend the lifecycle of your equipment as long as possible, but also helping you budget for the long-term by identifying parts and systems that will need to be replaced a few years down the road. 5. Accurate & Detailed Documentation of Work Performed You should never have to wonder what you’re getting for your money. A maintenance plan should tell you up-front what the service provider is capable of, what the plan covers, how often it can be engaged and what the parts and labor will cost. Transparency is key in choosing a service provider and an indicator that the relationship is worth building and maintaining. With fall creeping onto our calendars, now is the time to think about winter start-ups to ensure your heating equipment is ready to combat freezing temperatures. If you already have an HVAC maintenance agreement with Yale Mechanical, you can rest assured we’ve got that worked into your plan. If you’re in the process of evaluating service providers, you should know we customize maintenance agreements based on your particular needs. We deliver consistent quality and strive to make your equipment work like it did the day it was installed. To find out more about Yale Mechanical's HVAC maintenance agreements, call us today.

As we head into the summer months, many facility managers are looking for simple and effective ways to decrease the strain on their HVAC systems – and their utility bills – without sacrificing performance. Finding HVAC energy savings opportunities can reduce utility costs, increase the lifespan of your equipment, improve the quality of a facility or make the people in it more comfortable. To help you get started, we’ve identified five HVAC energy savings tips and pointers to keep your summer energy consumption in check without sacrificing the comfort of occupants or the processes in your building: If You’re Not Using It, Turn It Off. This one sounds simple, but it’s often the most overlooked. Figuring out when parts of your system can be turned off is the easiest way to save energy. This includes everything from mechanical systems to lighting. Use a System That Matches Your Building. The largest mechanical cost of any building’s energy usage is usually conditioning outside air or tempering fluid for cooling. Finding an economical system for your building, whether it includes air or water side economizers, dry coolers or pumped refrigerants, can go a long way in getting the most out of your utilities without running up your energy consumption. Install Building Controls and Use Them Properly. Running a system on manual settings reduces efficiency in day-to-day operation. Installing the proper building controls, and running them properly, is the key to reduced energy use. Everyone likes how their smart phones connect so many things in one device. Building controls for your HVAC system are no different – making it more convenient to control your mechanical systems and ensuring they are working together efficiently. Many building management systems, such as Alerton, also offer the ability to monitor and manage your HVAC systems remotely. Stagger Your Startup to Reduce Peak Draw. Most energy companies charge based on your peak energy consumption, not the total amount of energy you use. For many buildings, your peak draw is during the initial daily startup, when fans, pumps and other HVAC systems activate all at once. Planning your startup in a way that staggers when your equipment activates will help avoid the sudden spikes that can lead to a higher peak draw and a higher utility bill. Look for Energy Rebates. Energy efficiency is a national initiative supported by most gas and electricity providers. Many offer monetary discounts on energy bills for buildings that upgrade to energy-efficient units and products, and the technology is changing quickly. In Minnesota, Xcel Energy offers audit programs to determine a building’s eligibility for various upgrades. Since every building is different, each will be eligible for different rebates, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a building that’s eligible for less than a 10 percent energy efficiency rebate. Depending on the size of your monthly bill, those savings can really add up. Following these tried-and-true, common sense practices while incorporating the latest innovations will provide HVAC energy savings during the hot summer months ahead. To find out how your building can run more efficiently this summer, please contact me for more information.

With the recent outbreak of Legionnaire’s Disease in Hopkins attributed to contaminated vapor from a local cooling tower, this reliable piece of HVAC equipment has recently gained a lot more attention than usual. Admittedly, cooling towers can be easy to overlook. Even building owners might not give much thought to the rising steam they emit, which has become ubiquitous in the metropolitan and industrial areas where they’re often found. As easily as they blend into a skyline or industrial plant, they must not be ignored. Proper cooling tower maintenance by water treatment specialists and skilled mechanical contractors is necessary to ensure both public safety and energy efficiency. Improper Cooling Tower Maintenance Decreases Energy Efficiency Cooling towers are systems designed to use the evaporation of water to remove heat and cool process fluids. While cooling towers are typically reliable and effective, improper cooling tower maintenance will result in water scaling inside the tower. As water evaporates, mineral deposits are left behind forming the scale. If you’ve ever noticed the residue that remains in the pot after boiling water, you know what scaling is. This calcification coats the inside of the cooling tower, creating a layer of insulation that results in decreased efficiencies and higher energy use. It’s the job of water treatment specialists to prevent scaling. Yale Mechanical technicians work with water treatment professionals regularly who inspect and modify output levels, identify scaling and other cooling tower issues, and maintain proper levels of chemical additives to combat buildup and contamination. On the mechanical side, scaling and other buildup carries the risk of inflating a building’s energy usage. To combat this, we inspect a cooling tower’s fans, belts, pumps, heat exchangers, mist eliminators, motors and nozzles to ensure they are all operating efficiently. We also inspect the housings to make sure they are sealed and functioning properly, and the distribution of water through the nozzles is clean. Another important function our technicians provide is to ensure that water treatment is being performed. We will notify our customer if scaling or other issues are identified (which will need to be addressed by the water treatment specialists). Preventive Maintenance Covers All Your Bases It’s important to make sure your cooling towers are operating with peak performance – for both energy efficiency and public safety. Yale Mechanical’s preventive maintenance contracts ensure proper upkeep of a cooling tower’s mechanical functions. We also look to reduce energy use and increase efficiency through simple upgrades like installing Variable Frequency Drives, which regulate the speed of the motors and fans based on need. We also work with water treatment specialists to monitor cooling towers for safe, clean output. To find out more about cooling tower maintenance and how Yale Mechanical can help your cooling towers run safer and more efficiently, give us a call.