About: Bonus Eventus

If you run a commercial HVAC system, you will need to have it maintained. That’s not an optional extra – it’s an essential part of running such a system. If you don’t have regular maintenance checks, your system won’t last very long, with small issues turning into very big, very expensive problems that could result in you having to replace the whole system after just a year or two. So, you need maintenance. But what does that mean exactly, and what happens during an HVAC check?

Basic Tasks

Change Air Filters: To keep air flowing through the system and purifying properly, your filters need to be cleaned or changed regularly. Dirt and debris gather on them very quickly, especially if you carry out ‘dirty’ activities in your building like cooking, manufacturing or production. All of your filters will be changed for fresh ones as part of your check.

Visual Inspection: We will carry out a visual inspection of the whole system, looking for issues both big and small. This includes checking all the major and minor components of the HVAC system, pipes and appliances looking for signs that something may be wrong. A few warning signs would be disconnected pipes, rust, leaks, blockages or strange sounds.

Recalibration: While HVAC systems will run all year round, the demand placed on them can vary depending on the season. Recalibrating your HVAC system once in summer and again in winter is a good way to ensure you’re saving money, your system is running as efficiently as possible, and you’re not wearing parts for no reason.

Check & Clean Drainage Lines: Pretty much all HVAC systems will create water vapour, which needs to be funnelled out of the building to avoid structural damage. This is then collected as condensation in a tray, which over time can become the home to all sorts of bacteria, algae and mould and eventually lead to a blockage. Routine checks ad cleaning of your drainage lines keeps them flowing cleanly and protects the health of the people in the building.

Clean Evaporator & Condenser Coils: Your evaporator and condenser coils are exposed to the air that circulates through them while your system is running, and that air isn’t clean yet. This means all sorts of dirt and debris can build up, having a significant impact on their efficiency. Your maintenance check will include cleaning of both these elements.

Lubrication: There are moving parts in pretty much every HVAC system, though some do have less than others. Over time these can wear down and not work as efficiently. Ensuring all moving parts are lubricated and running smoothly keeps your system working for longer.

Comprehensive Checks

Safety Checks: This includes taking amperage readings, running a safety test on controls, checking all motors, testing for carbon monoxide and checking for leaks throughout the system. Safety checks are often when we discover something going wrong inside the system, and allow us to catch the small problems before they can become big ones.

Diagnostics: If we suspect something is wrong, or you’ve informed us of an issue, we will also run diagnostic tests on the system to see if we can locate and identify the problem. This could be something as simple as locating the leak in a pipe to diagnosing an electrical fault.

Repairs: If there are any broken or damaged elements, we can repair them when the damage is minimal. Damage only gets worse over time with HVAC systems, which is one of the reasons regular maintenance is so important. The big issues usually start as small things that can easily be repaired, which is exactly what we do.

Replacements: In the event a component can’t be repaired, we can replace it with a new one. This ensures your system has the right parts and is all working correctly, and will improve safety, efficiency and cost by some measure.

And a lot more besides! At Bonus Eventus Maintenance we tailor our maintenance packages to reflect what you need as a business. We can carry out monthly, quarterly or annual planned maintenance visits, as well as ad-hoc maintenance work if you have something that needs some attention. If you would like to know more about our maintenance packages or you just have a question, please get in touch with our team today.

If you have a cooling tower on your premises, you likely have a rather large area to heat and cool on a daily basis, or have very specialised temperature requirements. Cooling towers are often used in industrial HVAC installations, and they can provide some of the more efficient heating and cooling solutions for these spaces. But they do have one major drawback – they get dirty. Specifically they get slimy, accumulating a lot of dirt and moisture that can build up fairly quickly at times. So if you have a cooling tower, one of your regular maintenance tasks should be to keep it clean. And while it’s a slightly gross, difficult and sometimes time-consuming job, the long term benefits to your bank account are worth it.

What Causes Slime Build Up?

The slime build up in your cooling tower might seem a bit disgusting, but it’s actually a perfectly normal by-product of this type of system. It’s a substance called biofilm, which is a product of the microorganisms that live in your boiler and heating system. Scientists like to call this gooey coating ‘Extracellular Polymeric Substances’ – but if you’ve ever had first-hand experience of it you might just call it slime!

The microorganisms that have made their home in your property’s boiler or cooling tower create this biofilm as a way or protecting themselves. They live within or underneath this protective sheath, breeding and thriving – so the more slime you have, the more microorganisms have been living in your cooling tower rent free.

But you do need to be careful when you go in to clean this slime away, as some of the microorganisms within it can be quite dangerous. For example, certain bacteria that reduce sulphites can cause some significant metal corrosion in your systems. Legionella is another common bacterium found in the average cooling tower, and the biofilm this produces is the leading cause of Legionnaires disease – a very dangerous form of pneumonia that can be deadly. This is one of the reasons we recommend you hire a professional HVAC maintenance company (like us) to tackle cooling tower cleaning, as we have the experience, knowledge and specialist equipment to do this job quickly and safely – and dispose of the slime in a safe way afterwards.

That Slime Is Costing You Money

Having that biofilm living in your cooling tower isn’t a great thing. Not only is it a health risk, but it can also cost you money over time. Not a lot at first granted, but the longer you leave it the more build-up you get, and the more money you end up throwing away. For example:

• Your cooling tower will not be operating as efficiently. Biofilm is an incredibly good insulator, and if it gets into your cooling towers it will affect the way their ability to work properly. This means you will be using more power and more money to keep the towers working properly. To put it into perspective – a layer of biofilm just 1/5 of a millimetre thick will reduce your HVAC efficiency by over 10%!
• You are putting yourself and your employees and even the public at risk. If you have an outbreak of biofilm in your system, it‘s the first sign that worse is to come. You could, for example, be harbouring a strain of waterborne pathogen, holing any number of bacteria and viruses including Legionnaires’ disease. If your premises is close enough to be spraying mist over a local populated area, you are liable for any damages and illnesses stemming from that mist.
• Finally – you are risking a lot of damage to your equipment, which could cost you a small fortune in repairs or replacements. That sulphite reducing or iron depositing bacteria that cause biofilm to form can also destroy steel – the very substance your cooling towers are made of! In severe cases, these bacteria can eat away at 1-inch-thick steel tubing in as little as 18 months. Can you justify replacing your entire cooling system every 2 years just because of some slime?

So ask yourself this – if you have a cooling tower on your premises, when was the last time it was cleaned? If you don’t know, or it was quite a while ago, now is the time to take action. At Bonus Eventus Maintenance cleaning cooling towers is a part of our regular maintenance work on your HVAC system, so having a regular contract with us means you never have to worry about slimy cooling towers again. If you would like to know more, just get in touch with the team today.

Commercial air conditioning units are big systems, built for the big job they have. Compared to a domestic air conditioner they have to cool a much larger area of water, all while battling the same high heats effectively in warmer months. Not only that, but dozens or hundreds of people rely on a commercial air conditioner to do its job effectively, compared to the three or four who might in a residential setting. That’s why it’s so important to be able to recognise the signs that your commercial air conditioning system might be in trouble, or worse need replacing altogether.

Short Cycles

Short cycling is what happens when your air conditioning unit turns itself off shortly after it starts up. It’s a short cooling cycle the system is running because it’s getting too hot, or there is an internal error. This is causing a problem within your system and interrupting it’s ability to cool air. This causes it to shut down. This is one of the more common issues we see, mainly because it’s an easy one to miss, especially if you’re not paying attention to it. This problem can go on for a long time and eventually cause your system to fail, so if you notice it happening, you need to bring in a professional.

Strange Noises

As a general rule, air conditioners do make a bit of noise. But that noise should be minimal – and it definitely shouldn’t be so loud it’s disturbing people. If your air conditioning system is making a racket, or you can hear strange noises like rattling, screeching or clanging, these are fairly sure signs there is something wrong. Now this might just mean something needs repairing, but if it’s a consistent problem, especially if you’ve left it a while before dealing with it, then you may need to invest in a new system.

Age

This might sound odd, but you shouldn’t just replace your air conditioner when it breaks down. All commercial air conditioners have a recommended lifespan, and most tend to last between 10-15 years. The age your air conditioner can reach will depend on a number of things, including if it’s been properly serviced during its life, how well it’s been maintained and how often it’s used. But if your air conditioning unit is at that 10-15 year mark and you’re noticing issues start to creep up, now is the time to get it replaced.

Less Efficient

If your system is reaching the end of its life, it probably won’t stop working overnight. Instead, it will start to work less and less efficiently, costing you more money as it does, until it eventually breaks down. A few signs that this might be the case include:

• Air flow is not as good as it was
• Air isn’t as cool
• Certain zones of the building won’t be cooled properly
• Water or coolant starts leaking
• Increasing energy bills despite no change in usage

If you see any of these in your system, it might need replacing.

At Bonus Eventus Maintenance we work with companies to install and maintain air conditioning systems of all shapes and sizes in commercial properties. Our experts can advise you on the right type and size of system for your property, ensure it’s installed correctly and set you up on a regular maintenance plan to prolong the life of your equipment. If you would like to know more, or you think your air conditioning system might need some attention, just get in touch today to book your free consultation.