The cost of not servicing your aircon

You wouldn't let your car skip a service! All sorts of things could potentially go wrong with it. The added loss of value from when it is not serviced, maintained and washed regularly is what is expected but why not so with your aircon or refrigeration equipment?

Take the above photo taken from a unit left unserviced. The dirt you see is a build-up of airborne dirt and skin cells. Overtime the aircon will lose its effectiveness as the aerodynamic qualities deteriorate as the grime builds up on the fan blades. The hygiene factor is also a major consideration. Can you imagine what some of these units must look like when they have been left for months to accumulate?

There are coil and filter treatment options that clean and kill most bacteria that have the potential to generate on these surfaces (Covid rings a bell here).

There is another factor to consider. Many companies and individuals see their air conditioning plant as a once off capital cost. Plants are usually one of the biggest outlays when constructing an office or factory. The proper servicing of these plants means that you can effectively get between 15-20+ years of life from a well cared for plant instead of having to replace a plant after 5-8 years due to lack of maintenance. This is sadly very often the case, short term cost saving on services but a drastically reduced life span on the plant.

The cost of not servicing has an impact on the bottom line as well as the overall well being of employees.

In numbers a quick actual example: a national bank of a neighboring country installed a premium brand VRV system. The capital cost of the equipment at the time was ZAR 11 million. The installation cost with materials was a further ZAR 7 million. If this system is not looked after at an annual servicing cost of ZAR 300 000 (ZAR 3 million over 10 years), the system will last , at best, between 7- 10 years. You can comfortably get another 5 - 10 years from that system if it was properly installed initially, and was properly serviced over this time frame. Allowing for inflation over the period, you have saved your company the cost of spending another ZAR 20 million on replacing the system.

The size of the aircon does not matter, the principle remains the same. Look after your aircon and it will look after you.

Please feel free to send me any queries regarding any air conditioning queries you may have, we endeavor to assist if possible, and please, service your aircons!