Maintenance is one of those must-have things that always seems like a bit of a pain. Maintenance for air conditioning is no different – you don’t want to be without it but sometimes you begrudge paying it. However, if you get a really great maintenance plan, then some of the pain of paying for it can be ease. So, what does one of these look like?
What does a good maintenance plan include?
The aim of a maintenance plan is two-fold – to repair any problems that have occurred and to take steps to reduce the risk of a breakdown in the coming period. While it can’t always be guaranteed that this will work, a good maintenance plan will reduce the risk by looking at common areas for a breakdown and what needs to be done to reduce the risks.
There are four areas you should look for on your maintenance plan to ensure you are covering the most important things.
- How many visits do you get each year?
A good maintenance plan will usually include one main service visit and often a second, tune-up visit at a regular interval during the year. This means that your system will be professionally checked every six months.
- Do you get discounts on repairs?
Because maintenance aims to reduce breakdowns and get to the problem before it develops, the chances of issues are reduced. But not entirely removed. Often a maintenance plan will offer a discount on repairs or special deals on things if they do go wrong when you have regular checks from them.
- Do you get priority service?
Because there could still be problems with the system between maintenance visits, you want to have a plan that gives you priority service as an ongoing maintenance customer. This means engineers will visit you before a non-maintenance plan customer.
- Do parts come with a warranty?
This one is standard whether you are on a maintenance plan or not – all parts should come with some kind of warranty. Your maintenance engineer will be able to tell you what this is and what to do in the unlikely event that something goes wrong.
How do you know if your AC needs servicing?
Because we don’t like to pay for things if we don’t need to, there’s often a temptation to leave servicing until something goes wrong. But often these breakdowns can be prevented and that means less disruption to the business, especially in the warmer months when the AC is crucial.
The AC unit itself may give some signals that a service is needed. If the unit no longer performs as well, this could mean elements are deteriorating or something needs upgrading. If there are unpleasant smells coming from the system, this is a sign you need servicing immediately – not only could the unit fail but there could be something in it causing the smells that could also cause health issues. By having a good quality maintenance plan in place, you can reduce the risk of breakdowns, ensure the system is energy efficient and know who to call if there is a problem.