The Importance Of System Maintenance
This winter season has been one of the worst in recent history. Gelid temperatures and widespread power outages have been recorded in many parts of the country due to crushing winter storms and bitter, dangerous wind chill factors. But that isn’t the entire story; unprecedented demands have been placed on electrical and gas distribution systems and infrastructure. Although lately we’ve experienced a nice January thaw, the next wave of the pain will be sharply escalating energy costs. Maine has experienced shortages of natural gas. That, paired with the recent ice storm, has created high premiums for the power produced and distributed by electric utility companies. As regulated utility companies, they are allowed to pass all of these costs to consumers (read more here).
Nationally and especially in the Northeast, both gas and electric infrastructures are in dire straits. Vastly overdue improvements, replacements and capital spending have been deferred for decades. Although the gas industry boasts that newly-tapped gas fields will serve energy needs for decades, gas distribution from well heads to end-users will be problematic and expensive, which means increased future energy cost.
Hoards of manufacturers and vendors boast that you should buy their silver bullet. It’s hard to choose the best vendor, since they all promise you the most savings. The best way to stretch your dollar is with a proactive and comprehensive preventative maintenance program. On average we save clients 10 to 20% of energy costs on allegedly “adequately” maintained systems. The common business model in the HVAC Service industry is to price the preventive maintenance agreements as “loss leaders;” perform absolutely minimal maintenance and make money from repairs. We offer many types of preventive maintenance agreements and will tailor one for you to achieve your desired savings. All have verifiable tasks and some offer full guarantees. Put the “monkey” on our back, and don’t be left outside during this cold winter. Call in the experts for an audit on your system.
Dan Thayer, P. E.