Keep Your Commercial Tenants Happy with HVAC Maintenance

Heating or cooling problems in your commercial rental building can cause riffs between you and your tenants. It is guaranteed that HVAC issues will result in phone calls to your property manager from your tenants. When the AC is dysfunctional in the middle of summer or the heat is not working correctly in January, it can affect your commercial tenants’ business. Keep your tenants happy with an ongoing HVAC maintenance plan to prevent heating and cooling problems.

Finding reliable tenants for a commercial building is difficult. Once you fill your spaces, you want to keep those tenants in place to make the most of your investment. When HVAC problems occur, landlords can put relationships with their tenants at risk. If heating or cooling issues are making their employees unhappy or driving away customers, they may begin looking for a new space when their lease expires.

Invest in a Commercial HVAC Maintenance Plan

To ensure your commercial tenants do not need to continuously make calls complaining about heating or cooling issues, invest in a HVAC maintenance plan for your building. Not only does routine maintenance help reduce the chance of breakdowns, it can help extend the life of your HVAC equipment. In the long run, it will cost less than emergency repairs and possibly lost revenue if dissatisfied tenants decide to leave due to HVAC problems.

There are many factors involved with managing a successful commercial rental property, including maintaining your HVAC system. Make it simple by hiring an experienced industrial HVAC service to maintain your system to ensure heating and cooling is not a problem. It is a worthwhile investment to keep your tenants happy and retain longer leases for your building.

Posted on behalf of:
JS Thomas Service, Inc
4085 Nine McFarland Dr
Alpharetta, GA 30004
(770) 475-2600

Protecting Your Commercial Building from Mold Infestation

If you own a business or commercial property, it is an investment that you want to protect. Damage to a building can be costly; not only is it expensive to repair, it can interrupt business activities and stop incoming revenue. Mold is a quiet culprit that can cause serious damage to buildings and can be an expensive problem to solve. The best option is to prevent mold infestation by monitoring and controlling humidity in your commercial building.

Mold growth can be detrimental to any business. Store rooms, basements and closed areas are more likely to be affected by mold due to poor ventilation. Mold growth on surfaces can destroy supplies, especially porous materials like paper, cloth and cardboard. If the mold infestation is severe, it can enter walls and spread throughout the building. Mold removal can require a complete evacuation of the building, with specialized equipment needed to remove all mold spores, costing thousands upon thousands of dollars.

Preventing Mold Growth

Many times, mold growth is caused by poor air quality and ventilation. To protect your business and investment, you should monitor your air humidity and have routine inspections on your HVAC system. Your HVAC service can test the humidity in your building and ensure adequate ventilation is helping limit mold growth. If humidity is high, dehumidification options can help manage moisture levels to reduce mold growth.

If you have noticed musty smells in areas of your commercial building, it is time to schedule a HVAC inspection and air quality analysis. It is much less expensive to prevent mold growth than deal with a full-blown mold infestation in your commercial building.

Posted on behalf of:
ClimateSmith, LLC
1925 Lena Carter Road
Buford, GA 30519
(770) 475-9528

Are Commercial ERV and HRV Interchangeable?

If you are considering your options for ventilation in your industrial or commercial building, both energy recovery ventilators (ERV) and heat recovery ventilators (HRV) are options. The question is, are they interchangeable? The simple answer is that they can be, but often one is better than the other for certain applications and efficiency. Understanding the difference can help you determine which will work best with your commercial HVAC system.

Energy Recovery Ventilators

For most commercial buildings, ERV systems are the recommended option. This is because the design of the ERV allows for latent (moisture) air recovery, not just sensible (dry) air recovery. For regions that experience high humidity during the summers, this makes it more energy efficient for cooling the air. ERV will remove humidity from incoming outdoor air during the summer and add moisture to the drier indoor air during the winter.

Heat Recovery Ventilators

While ERV is usually the best solution for commercial buildings since it can handle humid air better, HRV can be beneficial in some circumstances. Dry climates where humidity is not an issue can use either system, since HRV only uses sensible air recovery. Also, industrial applications that create high humidity inside the building may be better served with an HRV, when the inside air is always higher in moisture content than the air outside.

If you are not sure which ventilation system will best suit your needs, contact your local commercial HVAC service provider to get recommendations. They can inspect your building and perform an efficiency analysis to determine which is the best option for controlling the air quality of your building while providing the best efficiency for your HVAC system.

Posted on behalf of:
JS Thomas Service, Inc
4085 Nine McFarland Dr
Alpharetta, GA 30004
(770) 475-2600

Is it Time to Upgrade your Office HVAC?

Do your employees complain that your office building is too hot or too cold, maybe even on the same day? Controlling temperature and air quality in an office environment can be difficult, and expensive. Unfortunately, if you have the wrong HVAC system or if it is out-of-date, it can be costing you in more ways than one. Consider these negative impacts a poorly running HVAC system can have on your business.

  • Higher energy costs. If different parts of your building are cold, warm and hot, you are wasting energy. Plus, older systems tend to be less efficient. Upgrading to a system that has better climate control and efficiency can save you thousands each year in energy costs.
  • Decreased productivity. Did you know that air quality and temperature can have a major impact on how productive your employees are? Just the time they spend complaining about the temperature fluctuations is enough to have an impact.
  • More repair costs. If you have an older HVAC system, you probably know your HVAC repairman on a first-name basis. While opting for a new system or retrofit is a big expense, it may be worth the investment and save you money in the long run off ongoing repair costs. Maintenance is cheap compared to calling for emergency repairs every month; plus, the HVAC downtime has a bigger impact on your employees and clients.

There is a point where the benefits of replacement outweigh the cost of continuing to use an old HVAC system in your office building. Talk to your local commercial HVAC service company about installing a new, efficient system or consider a retrofit for your building.

Posted on behalf of:
JS Thomas Service, Inc
4085 Nine McFarland Dr
Alpharetta, GA 30004
(770) 475-2600

6 Symptoms of Sick Building Syndrome

Do you ever notice when you spend time in certain buildings that you start feeling poorly? Often it is not in your mind, it is in the air. Sick building syndrome or SBS is a real problem and a risk to your health. Any building, commercial or residential, can have contaminants in the air that cause symptoms of poor health.

SBS can be caused by a variety of factors that impact air quality. Chemicals, second hand smoke, radon, mold, allergens and other biological elements can be forced through the air through the HVAC system, creating poor air quality. It can be at your workplace, business or home, wherever you have an HVAC system.

For many people, they can begin noticing symptoms caused by SBS within 10-15 minutes of being in the building. For others, it may take longer exposure, depending on their sensitivity to the contaminants. Here are six common symptoms that people can experience with SBS:

  1. Headaches
  2. Skin rashes
  3. Aching muscles
  4. Respiratory issues like coughing or sneezing
  5. Sore throat
  6. Fever

If you have notice that you get any or a combination of these symptoms when in certain buildings, but not in other locations, it could be SBS. It is not just a coincidence that you do not feel well; it could be a very real health concern that involves the air quality in that building.

If you have a home or business that you believe may be causing SBS, contact your local HVAC service. They can perform air quality testing and recommend solutions to combat SBS or improve the filtration in your building for improved health and comfort.

Posted on behalf of:
ClimateSmith, LLC
1925 Lena Carter Road
Buford, GA 30519
(770) 475-9528

Is Climate Control Affecting Productivity in Your Business?

As a business owner, productivity is a direct link to your bottom line. Finding ways to keep your employees productive is essential for profitability and growth. While you may have addressed many common factors that can enhance performance, one area you may have overlooked is environmental factors such as climate control. If your HVAC system is having problems, it could be affecting the performance of your workers.

A survey of 4,285 American workers done by CareerBuilder found that 22% of them claimed that a workplace that is too hot affects their productivity. 11% also reported that when their workplace was too cold, it had an impact on their performance. These numbers suggest that climate control is a bigger issue than many employers may realize.

This is not just about how workers feel. Another study measured the performance of workers when the temperature was changed in their work environment. This study performed by Cornell University measured the typing errors of workers when the temperature was lowered out of the comfort range. Errors increased when the temperature fell below 68 degrees. When the temperature remained between 68-77 degrees, errors dropped by 44% and typing output increase 150%. For the company studied, this equaled a 10% increase of labor costs when the temperature was too low.

Maintaining your HVAC to optimum levels could have a positive impact on your productivity. A poorly functioning HVAC system can increase energy costs and impact the comfort and productivity of your employees. Find a reputable commercial HVAC service company that can perform regular maintenance on your system to improve your business’ work environment and improve your bottom line.

Posted on behalf of:
JS Thomas Service, Inc
4085 Nine McFarland Dr
Alpharetta, GA 30004
(770) 475-2600

Tips for Businesses Considering an HVAC Retrofit

When it comes time to replace an HVAC system for a commercial or industrial building, there are many factors to consider. This can be a large project that involves much more than a simple replacement of just a few HVAC components. For large scale businesses, this can require changes in your building’s structure and a large amount of welding, electrical and carpentry work from several different contractors. To avoid expensive shutdowns of your productivity floor or inconvenience for your tenants, consider these tips to make sure your retrofit goes smoothly.

  • Hire a commercial HVAC expert. First and foremost, you want an HVAC service company that specializes in commercial and industrial applications. This is not a job for an HVAC company that does mostly residential and small business HVAC installation and service.
  • Find a retrofit specialist. Your HVAC company should also have extensive experience in HVAC retrofit projects. This is much different than installing for new construction where time and budget constraints are not as crucial.
  • Retrofit coordinator. There may need to be several different contractors working together to complete an HVAC retrofit. To ensure a quick and efficient install, hire an HVAC contractor that offers project coordination services for retrofit projects. Having the project overseen and managed under one contractor can help avoid miscommunication and project delays for maximum efficiency.

While there are many HVAC service companies that service and install commercial HVAC systems, it is important to choose carefully for a retrofit project. Downtime for any commercial enterprise is expensive, so it is worth the investment to find an industrial HVAC company that is experienced in HVAC retrofits so that the job is completed on time and within budget.

Posted on behalf of:
JS Thomas Service, Inc
4085 Nine McFarland Dr
Alpharetta, GA 30004
(770) 475-2600

Invest in an HVAC Service Plan for Your Commercial Building

If you own or manage a commercial building, you know the importance of maintaining your HVAC equipment. Heating and cooling costs can negatively affect your bottom line, especially when they are unexpectedly high. Scheduling regular maintenance and service on your commercial HVAC system is one way to reduce repair and replacement costs, but HVAC emergencies can still occur. A better way to cover unexpected HVAC service issues is to invest in an HVAC service plan for your commercial building.

Benefits of a HVAC Service Plan

While a regular maintenance plan for your HVAC system is important, regular service and inspections don’t typically cover repair expenses. When your furnace breaks down in the middle of winter or the A/C goes out in the middle of July, you could be spending thousands of dollars to have your HVAC repaired. A better way to plan for these unexpected yet unavoidable expenses is to invest in an ongoing HVAC service plan.

Quality commercial HVAC service companies can often offer an HVAC service plan which includes your regular maintenance and repair costs. This eliminates the worry that a repair will be needed during a poor cash flow month. You can add the service plan fee into your budget, making it easier to manage costs and increase profits for your business.

Not all HVAC service companies offer service plans for commercial HVAC systems. However, those who are dedicated to serving their commercial clients will usually have service plans available to minimize costs and make budgeting easier for their clients. Talk to your local commercial HVAC service company today and ask about what service plans they offer.

Posted on behalf of:
JS Thomas Service, Inc
4085 Nine McFarland Dr
Alpharetta, GA 30004
(770) 475-2600