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VAV System Service Work

VAV System Service Work

Posted on by ahenley

VAV systems are very common in buildings with various zones that have different heat loads. This is typical in schools, offices, and many other commercial buildings. Premium Solutions can help make sure your system is operating correctly and efficiently.

While we are not a certified air balancing contractor, we do have the tools and the expertise to measure your zones’ airflows and, by making adjustments to dampers, we can help balance the system which is useful in correcting issues where some zones may be getting too much air, while others are being starved.

We understand the delicate relationship between the equipment providing the cooling and heating, and the zones that are using it for temperature control. So even when your rooftop unit may be in good working condition, zone temperature control could have problems that are more related to the actual zone VAV boxes which control the air supply into that space.

Even though a VAV box is a fairly simple piece of equipment (when compared to your other HVAC systems), there are still several issues that can and often do go wrong. This could be the air flow measuring ring, control board or pneumatics which control the damper position, the reheat coil which tempers the cold air supply, the fan in a fan power VAV box, or even any of the basic electrical components (relays, contactors, etc.) which are built in to the VAV box panel.

Our experience in VAV systems gives us an advantage over many other service companies who may have limited exposure to such systems. We know what we’re dealing with, and we deal with it on a regular basis. Let us help you get your zoned HVAC system up and running like new.

In addition to service work, we also have the means to automate your zoned HVAC system. One line of our control modules are specifically made to mount directly on the damper shaft of a VAV and control it based on zone temp and airflow readings. 

>> Click here to learn more about Building Automation

Maintenance and Service Agreements

Maintenance and Service Agreements

Posted on by ahenley

Facility Service Program Options

Performance Service Agreements are custom designed to target known equipment or system issues which can be addressed during the term of the agreement. This flexibility allows you to budget replacement and upgrade costs.

  • Inspection Agreements based on equipment operation or customer requirements allow you to verify system and equipment are operating to optimum efficiency and reliability.
  • Full Coverage Programs may be available for your facility offering total parts and labor coverage for maintenance and repairs.
  • Seasonal Service Programs may include spring and fall service, shut down or start-up of chillers and boilers that supplement in-house maintenance resources.
  • Centrifugal and Rotary Screw compressor preventative maintenance provides recommended routine service to helps avoid unplanned trips and costly failures.
  • Facility Evaluation to provide 5-10 year master plans initiated by verification of present and potential performance of facility air conditioning and heating systems. Building Automated System enhancements, equipment replacement, repairs, and upgrades may be included.
  • Predictive Analysis including refrigerant, lube oil, vibration and non-destructive testing of tubes and pressure vessels can identify equipment trends that lead to catastrophic failure.

You Save by Planning Ahead

With the Premium Solutions service agreement, you’ll be able to budget ahead for standard maintenance cost, plus you can include annual system improvements, without having 1 large bill attached to, and instead paying for it over the duration of the agreement.

We’ll keep your equipment running at peak performance, and if any potential failures or problems arise, we’ll catch them faster by continually checking the operational integrity of the equipment, and by keeping up with a solid maintenance program.

Call Us Today to learn more about our service agreements, or Schedule An Appointment Now.

Inexpensive and Supplemental Cooling

Inexpensive and Supplemental Cooling

Posted on by ahenley

You can cool a warehouse, work shop, garage, and many other types of open spaces, most efficiently with a method called Evaporative Cooling. And because it’s so inexpensive, you can even run it as a spot cooler, providing a cool breeze directly on an area, even with doors and windows open.

Evaporative Cooling Explained

When you get out of a pool, even if it’s hot outside, the air feels cool right? Or if you get wet, any breeze (even a warm one) feels cold. This is because of Evaporative Cooling. As the water evaporates, the process causes it to absorb additional heat energy, which creates a cooling effect.

At one time, this technology was referred as Swamp Coolers, due to the excessive moisture it would release into the air. However, as time goes on, we get better at engineering these systems, so that today you can get great cooling, with very minimal moisture released into the space.

Cooling Units

Evaporative cooling units pump water through a media, also called a pad. This water runs down the media and the fan pulls air across it. As the air goes across, the water absorbs heat from the air through evaporative cooling, which cools the air as it’s blown into the space. These units are mobile, and very easy to setup and use.

There are many different manufacturers and types of evaporative cooling units available. If you would like some help finding the perfect Evaporative Cooling solution for your building, give us a call today:

573-243-3918

Or schedule and appointment

Building Performance Evaluations & Improvements

Building Performance Evaluations & Improvements

Posted on by ahenley

Evaluating your building is a great way to let a professional service contractor help you to understand where you have the greatest potential for energy savings, as well as performance improvements.

Here are some of the items we would check if you hired us to evaluate your bulding:

  • Does the building hold its temp set points during the hottest and coldest times of the year?
  • Are there zones that hold temp better than others?
  • Do you have sufficient insulation in the walls and ceiling space?
  • Is there excessive outside air coming in?
  • What are the CO2 levels, is there room for improved indoor air quality, or room for energy savings? One often has an adverse affect on the other, so we must find the happy medium.
  • Is there air leakage where there shouldn’t be?
  • Does the exhaust fans in the building overcome the fresh air, creating negative pressure? This can add greatly to the buildings latent heat load by increasing infiltration of un-conditioned air.
  • Is the humidity in the space too high or too low?
  • Is your equipment high efficiency? Would you get a quick return on investment if you replaced it with a high efficiency unit?
  • Do you have savings potential in the way your running your existing automation system?
  • Do you cycle equipment on schedules based on zone occupancy?
  • Do you use comparative enthalpy to determine when to use economizer cooling?
  • Are you providing the minimum required fresh air for CO2 control, and minimizing the latent heat load that comes with fresh air intake?

These are all items we can measure and address. There are solutions to any problem, and we can help you determine what the most cost effective solutions are for your building if you’re interested in saving energy and getting your equipment to run at its very best.

Click To Schedule An Appointment Today

Or Call Us (573) 243-3918

Air Conditioning Maintenance Guide

Air Conditioning Maintenance Guide

Posted on by ahenley

By doing regular maintenance on your air conditioning system, you’ll extend the life of your equipment. You’ll also be keeping it’s efficiency as high as possible. Many people opt to do their own maintenance, while other hire professionals to inspect and maintain their system throughout the year, season by season.

If you’re interested in taking care of your own maintenance, here are some things you should be doing.

  1. Change the air filter every 3 to 6 months. This varies depending on family size, in-home pets, if you open doors and windows often, etc. Anything that creates more dust, pollen, and hair, clogs up your filters faster. By keeping your filters replaced and clean, you’ll have sufficient airflow through the cooling coil, which keeps up the capacity of the air conditioner. You’ll also keep the coil clean by changing filters. If you let them go too long, the dust is pulled thru the filter and begins to clog up the coil. Cleaning the indoor coil is much more complicated than simply changing your filters as you should.
  2. Clean your condenser coil. Depending on how clean the air is around your home (in terms of dust, dirt, cottonwood, etc) you may need to clean your condenser coil 2 or 3 times in a year, but more likely it just needs it at the start of the cooling season, and maybe again later on if there has been a lot of cotton wood recently floating around. And when you mow and weed-eat, do not sling clippings into the coil. This just plugs it up, and a dirty condenser coil creates excessively high pressures, reducing capacity, reducing life span, and possibly resulting in the unit tripping out on a hot day via thermal overloads. And the condenser fan motor also doesn’t like the excess heat, so keep that coil clean!
  3. Unit capacity check – make sure your liquid line isn’t too hot, and your suction line is very cold. These are the 2 lines that are typically accessible at the outdoor unit. Some units may be piped differently, so be sure you understand what your refrigerant lines are supposed to feel like, and check on it yourself. You can also measure the temperature drop from the return air to your indoor unit, to the supply air coming from the registers. Ideally, for most systems this is 18 or 20 degrees. However, this number may not be that high if it’s really humid or hot in the space, or if it’s excessively hot outside you also may not get a full 20 degree temperature drop. But as long as you log this information, you can compare it to previous readings season after season, and you’ll start to learn the trends of your specific unit.
  4. More advanced inspections include checking for hot spots across contactors, measuring and checking the start and run capacitors, checking voltage and amp draw on your indoor fan and your condenser fan, oiling any motors that require it, checking system pressures, measuring system superheat and sub-cooling levels, and getting an amp draw on the compressor. These items should only be done by a professional, as you will be dealing directly with live voltage and pressurized refrigerant.

So if you’re a do-it-yourselfer, there are some items above you could probably handle yourself. Anything that requires a professional, you can hire us (or anyone you want) to take care of for you. Or you could hire it all to be done by professionals. Either way, by doing this maintenance on a seasonal basis, you can reduce the number of system failures and prolong the life of your equipment.

Click here to contact us today to set up an appointment for service or maintenance.

Tips for Saving Money on Your Heating Bills

Tips for Saving Money on Your Heating Bills

Posted on by ahenley

Energy usage in our homes costs Americans on average $2,000 per year. Some families will spend over twice that this year alone, due to increased energy cost, large temperature swings, and out-dated or failing HVAC equipment. And as for office buildings and retail stores, well that number just goes up the more square feet you have. And if you are running a business, then energy expenses directly impact your overhead and you should definitely keep reading.

With that kind of money going out the window (literally), I think we can agree that improving our homes ability to conserve energy on a daily basis will be well worth the investment. Here is a list of things you can do, some right now, others may require some planning and saving, but all of them are worth considerring.

  1. Add foam strips to any seals around drafty doors and windows
  2. Use a programmable thermostat that can automatically change your heating set point while your not at home
  3. Make sure your attic and exterior walls are insulated well
  4. If you have electric resistive heat, upgrade to a heat pump
  5. If you have gas heat, update to a new high efficiency model, or a heat pump with gas heat backup.
  6. Turn your thermostat down a degree or 2
  7. Install dark wood blinds to reduce solar heat gain through your windows

If you are interested in getting your building evaluated to find potential energy savings opportunities, please check out Building Performance Evaluation.

Or you can Call Us Today @ 573-243-3918

Click Here to Schedule Appointment